‘Media events’: first quarter of a century and the next

Abstract

We argue that the concept ‘media events’ has renewed the relevance of many existing studies, sharpened the significance of other studies, and inspired a stream of research. We then review our work on media events in relation to the grand narratives of national interest and collective memory. To reinvigorate the conceptual viability of ‘media events’, we put forward four questions for consideration in the larger theoretical, technological, and globalized contexts.