A GLOBAL MEDIA EVENT?

Abstract

The article takes as its point of departure the concept of media event and presents some of the main results from an international comparative study of the media coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Participants from USA, England, Scotland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Norway contributed to the project. The results of the Norwegian study show the usefulness of the media event concept in analysing both the planning and mediation of the event and its effects. The Norweigian people, including most of those who had opposed the Games, were absorbed in a truly festive atmosphere during their duration. Still, it is argued that more emphasis should be directed to the processes evident in the event. Other countries neither covered the same event in the same way, nor made similar interpretations. The article deals with some of the differentiation mechanisms under the headings: selection, transformation and contextualization. Based on empirical results it is argued that the concept of media event has to be treated as more complex in its mediation and in its effects. As media events, the Olympic Games should rather be analysed as a layered series of events of varying `strength' and meaning.