What is a media event?

Hepp and Couldry define a media event as an event that occurs as an “[interruption] of routine” that occurs across different channels and are broadcast live. These events are “historic” and in turn bring in large audiences. Although each characteristic may be found in many different events, media events encompass all these pieces of the definition. Hepp and Couldry cite Dayan and Katz’s three types of media events: contest, conquest, and coronation. Media events bring together the entire population through mass communication. This integration is one of the greatest defining factors of a media event. The mark of a media event is the inclusion of an entire group of people tuning into the event (Couldry and Hepp, 2010)

Media events are a special occasion, a “high holiday of mass communication”. Media events provide a break from the norm and provide a unified and shared experience. In my lifetime there have been many of these shared experiences and breaks from the norm. Olympic Games; celebrity triumph and failure such as the O.J. Simpson trial, and the Michael Jackson trial and his death; natural disaster such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis; and political events such as the Clinton impeachment, the election of Barack Obama, and the recent shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Ultimately, the greatest media event of the 21st century was the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. Every broadcast station from CNN to NBC, from Fox to MTV broke away from planned coverage to special coverage of the attacks. Radio stations, television stations, and internet news sites instantly broke towards covering the devastation at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and the site of the United 93 crash. This one event caused the entire news media from New York to Washington DC and across the world to focus on the tragic events of the day. In fact, for the days following the attacks this media event continued. The media event wasn’t limited to just the morning and afternoon of September 11th but the media event continued for days on end. This media event caused the entire world to stop and watch. The constant media coverage provided a unifying factor that brought together a nation in support.

Couldry, N., Hepp, A., & Krotz, F. (2010). Media events in globalized media cultures. In Media Events in a Global Age (pp. 1-20) [Introduction].