Pseudo-Events

It is a feature of the modern age that what used to be looked on as "news" has become something much less natural and true, and much more made up. Whereas newsmen in the early days were more determined to present the news in a neutral way, newsmen today are more like honorary members of Hollywood, focusing on PR, supporting personal agendas, and making politically slanted statements, rather than delivering pure news. A trend typical of this shift is the pseudo-event an event that has been staged on purpose to get press coverage. Such events are not so much real news as some kind of a show that is put on in the hope of getting into the news. An example was Janet Jackson's "wardrobe mishap" at last year's Super Bowl halftime. Comments that she made before the game, where she tried to talk her friends into watching the performance, made it obvious that she had planned the "mishap," and it did end up getting her into the news in a big way. Since the pseudo-event has become part of our culture, a look at how it affects us both positively and negatively is in order.

On the negative side, there is a lot wrong with the pseudo-event. First, it is a way of manipulating the news, which should be completely factual. When we watch the news, we expect it to be 100% real and true, not made up, beefed up, or put on. Knowing that much of what we see is staged lowers the amount of trust we can put in newsmen and the news. Second, the pseudo-event makes actual reality se

Related Essays

Media in Relation to Man .... 10) explores the illusory nature of life and the media in modern America in the concept of the "pseudo-event." Many media events are "pseudo-events" that are .... (1131 5 )

Pseudo-News of Television .... News or pseudo-news has distinct advantages for television stations and networks .... television shows using recreations of crimes and other events, and these shows .... (6573 26 )

Pseudo News Shows .... News or pseudo-news has distinct advantages for television stations and networks .... television shows using recreations of crimes and other events, and these shows .... (6573 26 )

Running a Successful Political Campaign .... Incumbents always have a leg up in creating pseudo events, because of their ability to generate media coverage through their announcements of new "initiatives .... (3977 16 )

Portrayal of Homosexuals in Mass Media .... aired from 1993 to 1998, featured a story line in 1997 in which the lead character "came out" as a lesbian, "one of the most publicized pseudo-events in TV .... (2483 10 )

Category: Psychology - P