Pseudo-event

A media event, also known as a pseudo-event, is an event or activity that exists for the sole purpose of media publicity. It may also include any event that is covered in the mass media or was hosted largely with the media in mind. Media events may center on a news announcement, a corporate anniversary, a press conference in response to a major media event, or planned events like speeches or demonstrations. Instead of paying for advertising time, a media or pseudo-event seeks to use public relations to gain media and public attention.

The term pseudo-event was coined by the theorist and historian Daniel J. Boorstin in his 1961 book The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America: “The celebration is held, photographs are taken, the occasion is widely reported.” The term is closely related to idea of hyperreality and thus postmodernism, although Boorstin’s coinage predates the two ideas and related work of postmodern thinkers such as Jean Baudrillard. An media event being a kind of planned event, it may be called inauthentic in contrast to a spontaneous one.

In recognizing the differences between a pseudo-event and a spontaneous event, Boorstin states characteristics of a pseudo-event in his book titled "Hidden History." He says that pseudo-events are: dramatic, repeatable, costly, intellectually planned, social, cause other pseudo-events, and that one must know about it to be considered "informed".

Similarly, Elihu Katz outlines the defining characteristics of a media event as: immediate (i.e., it is broadcast live), organized by a non-media entity, containing ceremonial and dramatic value, preplanning, and centering on a personality, whether that be a single person or a group

A number of video artists have explored the concept of a pseudo-event. The group Ant Farm especially plays with pseudo events, though not so identified, in their works "Media Burn" (1975) and "The Eternal Frame" (1975).

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