What is a Media Event?

Media event can be loosely defined as an occasion or happening, whether it is spontaneous or organized, that attracts coverage by the mass media. [1] Andreas Hepp and Nick Couldry associate media events as a phenomenon. [2] It is vital to know that in spontaneous media events, the element of immediacy is crucial. While in planned or organized events like the major election speech or public demonstrations, the crucial element relies upon the elevation of the occasion to true media event status. In the words of Albrow and Beck, media events are “an important aspect of power process in a global age”. [3, 4]

What is my global media event of the 21^st century?

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in Western China, on the afternoon of May 12, 2008. The affected area had a population of over 15 million, leaving 70,000 people killed and over 18,000 missing. 374,176 were injured and the earthquake had left 4.8 million people homeless. This earthquake was the deadliest to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 240,000 people. The Sichuan earthquake, also known as the Wenchuan earthquake is recorded as the 21^st deadliest earthquake of all time. Even after the initial earthquake, strong aftershocks (some exceeding magnitude 6) continued to hit the area months later.

Ever since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed over 240,000 people, China has required all new constructions to withstand major disasters such as earthquakes. Yet thousands of the initial victims were children crushed in poorly constructed school buildings. This led to criticism from the United States and other western countries, towards China’s central government trying to cover up the evidence and silencing the parents, whose children were victims to the earthquake, with money, harassment of the local authorities and threats of imprisonment. Articles were written in the New York Times,

“Reports emerged in July 2008 the local governments in the province had begun to coordinate campaign to buy the silence of angry parents whose children died during the earthquake” [5]

It is very hard to tell which side is true. I was in China during the after mass of the quake and the Chinese did criticize the authority online and also on television. Footage were captured on cell phones and other electronic devices that were later broadcast through the web. People were angry at the poorly constructed buildings that ultimately killed most of the school children. Therefore it is hard to say whether what was written in the New York Times the absolute truth, or maybe some things were fabricated. Ever since the Cold War, the west has viewed Communism as the Evil Empire, therefore would it be wrong for me to say that western reporters might sometimes have exaggerated the truth? And what was written was solely based on what they assumed?

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[1] "Media Event." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.

[2] Couldry, Nick, Hepp, Andreas, and Krotz, Friedrich. Media Events in a Global Age. London, New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

[3] Albrow, M. The Global Age. Cambridge: Polity Press. 1996. Print.

[4] Beck, U. What is Globalization?, translated by Patrick Camiller. London: Blackwell. 2000. Print.

[5] Jacobs, Andrew. "Sichuan Earthquake." New York Times [New York] 6 May 2009, International sec.: A6. Print.