Abstract
This edited volume brings a set of contributions to the long-running debate on media events, initiated by Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz’s (1992) landmark study on the topic. Rather than offering an overarching new argument, the editors gathered a wide range of empirically grounded case studies from a variety of countries. The contributions are divided into three broad groups. Part 1 encompasses studies of so-called disruptive media events, which received little mention in Dayan and Katz’s original study, but had since attracted a lot of scholarly attention, particularly following the 9/11 events. These include Julian Matthew’s analysis of reporting templates in the press coverage of the 2005 London bombings, Johanna Sumiala and Lilly Korpiola’s examination of the 2011 Tahrir Square protests, Galina Miazhevich’s study of the 2013 EuroMaidan events in Ukraine, Sónia Pedro Sebastião, Ana Isabel Lemos and Isabel Soares’ examination of civil protests against the hosting of the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil and Taneli Heikka, Katja Valaskivi and Turo Uskali’s investigation of the so-called ‘Gatecrashers riots’ that took place in Finland during the Finnish Independence Day in 2013. The second part of the book turns to ceremonial media events of the kind examined by Dayan and Katz, but seeks to refresh the debate by examining a series of recent ceremonial occasions or by asking new questions about them. Dennis Lichtenstein thus investigates the role played by transnational media events such as the Eurovision Song Contest in negotiating the international image of countries situated at the European periphery, Mariaeugenia Parito studies European elections as a media event, Stamatis Paulakidakos analyses the aftermath of the 2004 Olympics in Greece and Andrew Fox examines the English FA Cup. Contributions in the last part of the book ask how the nature of media events has changed in the context of digital and mobile media. Lázaro M. Bacallo-Pino investigates the use of social media across a range of recent social mobilizations worldwide, Dariya Orlova analyses the role of the Internet in engendering popular participation during the 2013 EuroMaidan events in Ukraine, Bianca Mitu addresses similar issues in connection to the first investiture of Barack Obama as President of the United States and Xi Cui studies the nature of media events generated through the Instant Messenger mobile phone application. Taken together, this array of case studies offers a lot of food for thought for anyone interested in the ways in which contemporary media are involved in generating a sense of extraordinary occasion and can offer a useful basis for further conceptual innovation in this area.