Media circus
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A media circus is an event that occurs when an aspect of a popular news event receives almost ludicrously high levels of media attention. The image of a circus is thus evoked by the vast troop of reporters who are sent to cover the story, as well as a seemingly endless parade of pundits, spin doctors, and spokespeople.
A media circus will commonly appear when a story revolves around one central location. For example, when "Baby Jessica" (Jessica McClure) fell down a well, the well became the site of a huge convocation of reporters and cameramen. Elián González's home in Miami following his custody conflict was also home to a enormous media circus, complete with tents, food vans, and dressing rooms camped outside for the television networks' vast staffs.
In some cases, increased coverage may be because of an underlying social issue that the case represents. For example, the Scott Peterson case may have been amplified because it concretely represented the opposing vocabulary in the abortion debate, i.e., whether someone could be tried for the 'murder' of an unborn child [1] (http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/barber010405.htm) [2] (http://www.meaning.ca/articles/news_commentary/murder_unborn_child.htm) as compared to the 'termination' of a fetus/pregnancy.
Media hype is another word used frequently in reference to a critique of media for their giving undue focus on an issue that is less important than the coverage would warrant. The general critique is often that there is a significant opportunity cost when other more important news issues that should be covered get less air time as a result of coverage of the hyped issue. (See: Fnord).
Events
Events sometimes described as a media circus include:
- In Australia:
- The Azaria Chamberlain disappearance of 2 month old baby in outback Australia (1980)
- In the United States:
- Baby Jessica rescued from a well (1987)
- The trial of Pamela Smart (1990)
- Menendez brothers trial (Early 1990's)
- John Wayne Bobbitt
- The trials of O. J. Simpson, especially his criminal trial (1994 and 1995)
- The Blizzard of '96 (1996)[3] (http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/issues/v71/n3/blizzard.3v.html)
- Titanic movie of 1997
- The sex scandal of President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (1998)
- The Columbine High School massacre (1999)
- Marketing/merchandising for many of the Star Wars movies released in the 2000s
- The Elián González custody conflict (2000)
- The Florida Recount of Election 2000
- Y2K crisis (1999-2000)
- Chandra Levy (2001) - missing Washington, D.C. intern
- The sex scandal of Congressman Gary Condit (2001)
- Andrea Yates (2001) - the Texas woman who drowned her five children
- Jessica Lynch (2003) -- female POW in the Iraq war
- Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction (2004) during the super bowl - Nipplegate
- The trial of Martha Stewart (2004)
- The Scott and Laci Peterson case (2004)
- Ronald Reagan's funeral (2004)
- The trial of Kobe Bryant (2004)
- Last episode of Friends (2004)
- Breakup of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston (2005)
- The Terri Schiavo coverage (2005)
- The Death of Pope John Paul II (2005)
- The Michael Jackson Trial (2005)
- Britney Spears' pregnancy (2005)
- The runaway bride incident with Jennifer Wilbanks (2005)
- In Canada:
- The marriage of Janet Jones to Wayne Gretzky
- The trial of Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo (1995) and Karla Homolka's release (2005)
- In the United Kingdom:
- The marriage of Lady Diana Spencer to Charles, Prince of Wales
- The death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in August/September 1997
- The detention of general Augusto Pinochet
- The marriage of Camilla Parker Bowles to Charles, Prince of Wales
- In Brazil:
- The Candelaria Church Massacre
- The Chico Mendes murder case
See also
external links:
- good list of journalism issues (http://members.tripod.com/~journalismcenter/books3.html)
- editorial against Runaway Bride hype (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/features/3176165)