Media Discourse on Obama Inauguration - Essay Example

Name …………… Professor ………... Arts …………….. 29 October 1999 Media Discourse on Obama Inauguration A media event by definition is different from other formulas and genres of broadcasting because they are not routine, but in fact an interruption of routine. In the most characteristic events the interruption is monopolistic, in that all channels switch away from their regularly scheduled programming in order to turn to the great event, perhaps leaving a few independent stations. The broadcasting of the event is live, and thriving. A media event would occur outside the media, which means that the event would occur outside the studio in remote locations. This kind of connection in real time, to a remote place - one having major importance to some central value of society is credited with exceptional value by both the broadcasters and the audience. These could include governments, parliaments, political parties or international organizations. Media events would need to be preplanned occurrences; by this logic a spontaneous event could never be named a media event. This would also imply then that most broadcasters would have time to plan for the broadcasting of the event; there is a publicizing phase where the event is brought to public notice. There is also an element of reverence and ceremony attached to a media event; just as the one that is being discussed here. A mammoth media event Media events are described therefore as large-scale public events that connect actions across multiple locations within an overall action-frame that is focused on a central, broadcast ‘event’ (which need not itself be ritual). There is for all aims and purposes no disputing the fact that television and modern media in general have changed the conditions of the modern rituals and that in the context of media events a special mode of viewing often occurs-usually with others, accompanied by formalized behavior (perhaps the laying out of a meal, certainly the exclusion of an interruption of the broadcast. This in fact Dayan and Katz name as festive viewing (Chapter V). There is also a case with media events that enable viewers to celebrate actively themselves (Dayan and Katz, 13). There what Dayan and Katz name the “rare realization of the full potential of electronic media technology” as a force of integration” (Dayan and Katz, 15). Thus television would answer a Durkhemian concern expressed over a century earlier at the decline of the experiences of social solidarity. Here Couldry links the assumptions of Dayan and Katz to the Durkhemian spirit that holds the “mechanical solidarity”. The assumptions are a classic example of why rituals matter. The idea therefore is that media events would help in overcoming Durkheim’s concern over disintegrating social solidarity. This would therefore be the future of the purpose of television and that of media events at the crux of Dayan and Katz’s argument in Couldry’s analysis. Couldry however takes this hypothesis to be the rhetorical power of the Dayan and Katz’s analysis. He however believes that this hypothesis would also require some sort of additional requirements and restrictions to be built into their hypothesis of a media event. Media events are not just times when large societies are together but this togetherness is expected mostly to be a positive event. This however need not always be the case- war for example can never be a positive occurrence. The hypothesis that Dayan and Katz put forward state that media events are important because the celebrate reconciliation and not conflict. To quote Couldry “the limitation is rather arbitrary. To call a media event a hegemon depends on a certain reading of the event.” Couldry therefore states that there are many a great potential media events which do not serve the purpose of societal integration. There are yet another media events that are not integrative but highly contested. Couldry therefore reverses Dayan and Katz’s argument stating that media events, their exceptional nature accepted, are merely intensified versions of the media’s ordinary claim to be representative of ‘the centre’. Media events would therefore display not the power of media on holiday but the power of a holiday. Barack Obama’s oath of office Nearly 37.8 million Americans watching at home viewed President Barack Obama’s oath of office and inaugural speech between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET on January 20, 2009.  This is the most viewed inauguration since the record of 41.8 million viewers who watched Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration The event being discussed and reviewed in the context of a media event that would grab eyeballs in the greatest number for the purpose of our discussion is that of President Barack Biden Obama’s swearing in ceremony. The event captured a viewership of over 37.5 million in the United States itself and the numbers would just go up because of the fact that the event was televised and viewed the world over with a level of enthrallment and passion seldom witnessed in an age where increased media activity has hackneyed the viewer palette to an extent wherein many claim that nothing on TV really excites them any more (BBC, Report, 2009). The swearing in ceremony of President Obama would fit the bill perfectly for an event that would find a chord with millions not just around the country but around the world. There were several elements to the equation that made the event as exciting as it ultimately became. The event was telecast from The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C where proceedings started on January 20 Inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. A welcome event, hosted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) was held at the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated to the memory of America’s 16th President, the Lincoln Memorial has been the site of many Presidential Inauguration activities in recent years. President Barack Obama is the first African American president in nation that has witnessed the scourge of slavery, a bloody civil war for its abolition and an equally turbulent civil rights movement for the population (Jones, 2009). The fact that in its 250 years of existence, America would for the first time witness an African American president therefore is a fact that would tug at the heartstrings of many a number. There is also the fact that the event was to take place at the Lincoln Memorial, a site as a reminder of the efforts of the pioneer. An event that traversed the globe all at a time The fact that the event was well publicized and anticipated can be proved given the fact that there was a big controversy regarding the budget of the inaugural ceremony. The estimated amount ranged from the speculated $150 million to $160 million- an amount four times of the one spent on President Bush’s second swearing in (The Guardian, 2009). The event was also expected to witness attendance from over 3 million Americans who many said saw the new president as array of hope in a dejected economy. There was also the question of the content of Obama’s speech at the swearing in-many saw in it a new era that would change the fortunes of a slipping global giant for good while there were many others who saw in his rhetoric a repetition of what Bush had preached an practiced in his eight years at the Oval Office. The other most important aspect of the event was that it was a media blitzkrieg that saw the coming of age for the new media though many still anticipated the fact that the inauguration ceremony was tailor made for the more traditional media i.e. the television. Millions around the world commented, Twittered, and posted as they watched Mr Obama's inauguration live on the internet, pinning their hopes on a new world order and era in American politics (ABC News Report, 2009). Social-networking website Facebook said the rate of profile page updates surged, peaking at an unprecedented 8,500 per minute during Obama's speech. Facebook and CNN had teamed together to let viewers post comments or other updates to their social network pages while watching the news organization’s online broadcast of the inauguration. A contributing factor to the online popularity of the inauguration was likely that the swearing-in of Obama took place when many people in the United States were at work with computers and high-speed internet. As internet users blogged and twittered away, the White House of President Obama went online with a promise that its slick new website would provide a "window for all Americans into the business of the government". CNN has what sounds like a great idea. It is asking anyone who is attending the inauguration to take a photo at precisely 1200 (1700 GMT) when Obama takes the oath and sends it to the cable news station. They will then use a Microsoft program called Photosynth to create what could be an extraordinary 3D image of a moment in history. Power of media and the power of event too The event was a classic example of the power of a media event and the force of unity that it could still garner within its supporters and participants. The inauguration of President Obama was touted as a radical step not just for American politics but for American economy and consequentially the world economy and thus a change for the better in the way of life around the world itself (BBC Report, 2009). When he got elected, the world economy was in the grips of the worst economic recession that the world in general and America in particular had witnessed since the Great Depression. Lehman Brothers had collapsed, the sub prime crisis was taking its toll, newspapers everyday were full of stories on lay offs and shut downs; unemployment rates were at 50 year high. The words of the President were awe inspiring, “"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."  The faith of the people in the unshakable Dollar had been shaken and they were looking at a new leader-one that promised a new future that would rid them of their problems. His slogan of ‘DO IT NOW’ was embraced and it united the people, young and old, rich and poor. The event itself was a dream come true for broadcasters-there were tears from the better known faces like Oprah Winfrey-pictures of people frozen in the cold and yet standing there hanging on every word that came out of their leader’s mouth is just the stuff of legends that great media events are made of. Conclusion If one tries measuring the depth of intensity based on Couldry’s analysis one would still come up with some positives. There was definitely a great amount of money to be made off the event as far as networks and in this case online portals were concerned. The event demonstrated the power of the media- the new media included. There was even a live web-telecast " be the change inauguration ball". In conclusion therefore one can state with some confidence that Obama’s swearing in was one of the more successful media events that contemporary history has seen in the past decade or so. Interestingly enough, the power of the TV as a medium of mass communication seems to have diminished given the fact that the figures of 37.5 million viewers on TV was a much smaller figure than was originally anticipated. As opposed to this, web portals and interactive sites like Facebook and Twitter saw a much more active audience thereby prompting the thought that the new media is indeed ready to take over even where the traditional media event is concerned. Works cited BBC Report, 2009, Historic moment as Obama sworn in, pub, accessed October 16, 2009, Nearly 37 million people watched inauguration on TV, accessed October 16, 2009, Dayan D and Katz E, Media events: the live broadcasting of history, pub, A1 Books, 1994 Jones R E, A New Media inauguration?, pub, BBC Report, accessed October 16, 2009, ABC Report, 2009, Internet goes into overdrive for Obama inauguration, accessed October 16, 2009, Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech, accessed The Australian, October 16, 2009, Cochran J, 2009, Obama's Inaugural Address: 'We Must Pick Ourselves Up, pub, ABC News Report, accessed October 16, 2009, Warne D, Obama to have high-tech inauguration ceremony, pub, APC News, accessed October 16, 2009, MacAssil E, 2009, Obama's inauguration set to be the most expensive in US history, pub, The Guardian, accessed October 16, 2009, Couldry N, Media rituals: a critical approach, pub, Routledge, 2009, pp66-72 Read More