Victim or Victor? Mythologisation by the Local Press of King Mihaï's visit to Romania

Summary: As part of the discourse engendered by our culture, there is no reason for media discourse to receive special treatment - despite journalists' claims concerning the peculiar nature of their work. An anthropological viewpoint shows us that in the construction of their discourse, journalists are constrained in the same way as makers of myths: it is an attempt to define reality by means of narrative structures which, in order to give meaning to the unexpected, resort to culturally deep-rooted symbols. The analysis of the media event - the former king's visit at Easter - which mobilized the Romanian press in 1992, shows the power of the symbols which the media exploit while maintaining the illusion of simply recounting concrete events.