Historic Key Events and the Media

Abstract

Historic key events are genuine events with historical importance. Four factors are important to consider in this regard. (1) Historic key events have ashort and distinct duration. The event happens within a short time and it is clearly separated from later and earlier events. It is arguable whether wars and revolutions should be considered as historic key events; overall it seems best to regard them as chains of related historic key events (Wilke 1989). (2) Historic key events have a significantimpact on later times. The historical dimensions of the political, social, economic, or cultural effects are sometimes obvious when the event happens, but at other times the importance of the event becomes clearer with the passing of time, when the significance of its effects can be evaluated differently. It is easier to regard political or economic events as key events than social or cultural events. (3) Historic key events arenot primarily created for media attention. Their importance is independent of any media coverage. Even when some aspects of an event may have been planned in advance to attract media attention, its main purpose is not media effect. (4) Historic key events areambiguous and subjectivein many ways. Billy Wilder's filmOne, Two, Three(1961) started with a quote that provides a perfect illustration of the ambiguities of historic key events and media key events: “On Sunday, August 13th, 1961, the eyes of America were on the nation's capital, where Roger Maris was hitting home runs #44 and 45 against the Senators. On that same day, without any warning, the East German Communists sealed off the border between East and West Berlin. I only mention this to show the kind of people we're dealing with – real shifty!” On the one hand, the mass media cover key events; on the other hand, media routines can be used for political or other purposes (→ News Routines). The ambiguous status of a key event is due to the point of view. The above quotation illustrates that the importance of a given event may be valued very differently: some events achieve the status of a historic key event, while others remain simply key events in media coverage.