W(h)ither Media Events? Building a Typology for Theorizing Exceptional Events that Break with the Norm in a Complex Media Landscape

Abstract

This article proposes a new typology for understanding events or programs that represent exceptions to the norm in that they interrupt media schedules and/or monopolize coverage across numerous platforms and capture public attention for short periods of time. First the master category of exceptional mediated event is introduced and four main categories identified, media events, media disasters, news events and pseudo-events. Then, a primary distinction is drawn between those that interrupt mainstream programming and those that interrupt specialist news channels or are staged for publicity purposes by media producers. This typology builds on recent responses to Dayan and Katz’s (1992) classic study of Media Events but argues that rather than expanding conceptual categories, specific analytical tools—that focus on temporality, organization, scale, liveness and genre—are required to make sense of an increasingly complex, and competitive, media landscape