Media circus

Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to be excessive or out of proportion to the event being covered. Coverage that is sensationalistic can add to the perception the event is the subject of a media circus. The term is meant to critique the coverage of the event by comparing it to the spectacle and pageantry of a circus. Usage of the term in this sense became common in the 1970s.^[1][2] It can also be called a media feeding frenzy or just media frenzy, especially when they cover the media coverage.

News media satellite up-link trucks and photojournalists gathered outside the Prudential Financial headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, in August 2004 following the announcement of evidence of a terrorist threat to it and to buildings in New York City.

History

 

Tonya Harding arriving at Portland International Airport after the 1994 Winter Olympics

Although the idea is older, the term media circus began to appear around the mid-1970s. An early example is from the 1976 book by author Lynn Haney, in which she writes about a romance in which the athlete Chris Evert was involved: "Their courtship, after all, had been a 'media circus.'"^[3] A few years later The Washington Post had a similar courtship example in which it reported, "Princess Grace herself is still traumatized by the memory of her own media-circus wedding to Prince Rainier in 1956."^[4]

Media circuses make up the central plot device in the 1951 movie Ace in the Hole about a self-interested reporter who, covering a mine disaster, allows a man to die trapped underground. It cynically examines the relationship between the media and the news they report. The movie was subsequently re-issued as The Big Carnival, with "carnival" referring to what we now call a "circus". In the film, the disaster attracts campers including a real circus. The movie was based on real-life Floyd Collins who in 1925 was trapped in a Kentucky cave drawing so much media attention that it became the third largest media event between the two World Wars (the other two being Lindbergh's solo flight and the Lindbergh kidnapping).^[5]

Examples

Events described as a media circus include:

Aruba

• The disappearance, and assumed death, of Natalee Holloway (2005–)^[6]

Australia

• The Azaria Chamberlain disappearance of 2-month-old baby in outback Australia (1980)^[7]
• The Beaconsfield Mine collapse (2006)^[8]
• 2009 Violence against Indians in Australia controversy^[9]
• Schapelle Corby Drug smuggler (2014)^[10][11]

Brazil

• The murder of Isabella Nardoni (2008)^[12]

Canada

• Conrad Black, business magnate of newspapers, convicted of fraud, embezzlement and corporate destruction, imprisoned in Florida (2007)^[13]
• Toronto mayor Rob Ford's life, including his usage of drugs, alcohol and involvement with organized crime (2013)^[14][15][16]
• Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka (serial killers) (1987–1990)^[17]
• Omar Khadr (detained as a minor at Guantanamo Bay in 2001, transferred to Canada in 2012, released in May 2015)^[18]

Chile

• 2010 Copiapó mining accident (2010)^[19][20][21]

Colombia

• The Death of Luis Andres Colmenares (2010)^[22]

Italy

• Amanda Knox (convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher; her conviction was subsequently overturned) (2015)^[23]

Malaysia

• The missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (2014)^[24][25]

Peru

• Joran van der Sloot and the death of Stephany Flores Ramirez (2010)^[26]

Philippines

• Pepsi Number Fever 349 incident (1992)^[27]
• Murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez (1993)^[28]
• Manila Film Festival scandal (1994)^[29]
• PhilSports Stadium stampede (2006)^[30]
• Manila hostage crisis (2010)^[31]
• Vhong Navarro assault incident (2014)^[32]
• Good conduct time allowance controversy (2019)^[33]
• PNP Ninja cops controversy (2019)^[34]
• Barretto sisters controversy (2019)^[35]
• ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy (2020)^[36]
• PhilHealth corruption scandal (2020)^[37]
• Marichu Mauro maltreatment case (2020–21)^[38]
• Philippine Government–Sinovac Biotech purchase controversy (2020–21)^[39]
• 2020 Tarlac shooting (2020–21)^[40]
• Death of Christine Dacera (2021–22)^[41]
• Tim Yap birthday party controversy (2021)^[42]
• 2021 PNP–PDEA shootout (2021)^[43]
• 2021 PDP–Laban dispute (2021–22)^[44]
• Pharmally pandemic deals scandal (2021–22)^[45]
• Deped laptop deals scandal (2022)^[46]
• 2022 Philippine sugar crisis (2022)^[47]

Romania

• Disappearance and alleged murder of Elodia Ghinescu, especially on OTV, which aired a couple hundred episodes on the matter (2007)^{[48][49][50][51]}

South Africa

• Oscar Pistorius on trial for death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (2013–14)^[52][53]

South Korea

• Suicide and funeral of K-pop star and Shinee member Kim Jong-hyun (2017)^[54][55]

Thailand

• Tham Luang cave rescue (2018)^[56]

Ukraine

• Mykola Melnychenko's involvement in the Cassette Scandal (1999–2000)^[57][58]

United Kingdom

• The Charlie Gard case (2017)^[59]
• The life, career, death and funeral of Jade Goody (2009)^[60]
• The disappearance of Madeleine McCann (2008).^[61]
• "Megxit" feud between Meghan Markle/Prince Harry and the royal family (2020–2023)^[62][63][64]

United States

 

Cameras and reporters in front of the Strauss-Kahn apartment on May 26, 2011

• The 1924 murder trials of Beulah Annan, Belva Gærtner, and several other female suspects in Chicago, adapted into the Chicago franchise by a newspaper reporter^[65]
• The early 1930s string of public enemies, ranging from mafia leaders such as Al Capone to smaller-time gangsters, most enduringly famously Bonnie and Clyde^[66]
• The 1954 trial of Sam Sheppard. The U.S. Supreme Court held "massive, pervasive, and prejudicial publicity" prevented him from receiving a fair trial^[67]
• The 1965 littering trial against singer Arlo Guthrie and Richard Robbins, deliberately turned into a local media circus by arresting officer William Obanhein to deter others from repeating their actions^[68]
• Coverage of the investigation and trial of the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and four others by the Manson family^[69]
• David Gelman, Peter Greenberg, et al. in Newsweek on January 31, 1977: "Brooklyn born photographer and film producer Lawrence Schiller managed to make himself the sole journalist to witness the execution of Gary Gilmore in Utah....In the Gilmore affair, he was like a ringmaster in what became a media circus, with sophisticated newsmen scrambling for what he had to offer"^[70]
• The rescue of baby Jessica McClure (1987)^[71]
• The Central Park jogger case of 1989^[72]
• The O. J. Simpson murder case of 1994–95^[52][53]
• The Blizzard of '96 (1996), "...this storm ...so hyped by the media in the same way that the O. J. Simpson murder case became hyped as the "Trial of the century"^[73]
• The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal (1998)^[74][75][76]
• The Elián González custody conflict (2000)^[77]
• The Summer of the Shark in 2001^[78][79][80]
• The trial of Scott Peterson (2004), "The circus became even more raucous when Peterson went on trial for murder in 2004"^[81]
• The trial of Martha Stewart (2004), "The stone-faced Stewart never broke stride as she cut a path through the media circus"^[82]
• The disappearance of Stacy Peterson (2007)^[83]
• The alleged teenage "pregnancy pact" at Glocuester High School (2008)^[84]
• The Casey Anthony murder trial (2011), "Once again, it was relentless media coverage that in large part fed the fascination with the case", Ford observed^{[85][86][87][88]}
• The killing of Trayvon Martin (2012), "Here is where the media circus takes a decidedly ugly turn", Eric Deggans wrote^[89]
• The murder of Travis Alexander (2013), where Jodi Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder^{[90][91][92][93][94][95]}
• The Killing of Cecil the lion (2015)^[96]
• Opposition to and protests against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and the proceedings of his Confirmation Hearings (2018)^[97]
• The murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed (2020)^[98]
• The various scandals surrounding George Santos (2022–2023)^[99][100]
• The trial of Alex Murdaugh (2023)^[101]
• Indictment of Donald Trump (2023)^{[citation needed]}

See also

• 24-hour news cycle
• Cause célèbre
• CNN effect
• Deviancy amplification spiral
• "Dirty Laundry" (Don Henley song)
• Feiler faster thesis
• It's Not News, It's FARK
• Richard Jewell
• Media scrum
• Missing white woman syndrome
• Paparazzi
• Perp walk
• Political theatre
• Sensationalism
• Silly season
• Trial by media
• Trial of the century
• Yellow journalism

References

1. "Gilmore case turning into a circus for media". Milwaukee Journal. 1976-12-03. The worldwide attention that condemned killer Gary Gilmore is receiving has turned his case into a media circus Utah residents are saying
2. Miller, Gene (1976-12-08). "Only in America - the Gary Gilmore Circus has everything but dancing bears". The Evening Independent. There is most appallingly, an only-in-America spectacle wherein a quest for justice becomes an extravaganza for the fast buck. Come, come, come to the circus.
3. Lynn Haney (1976). Chris Evert, the Young Champion.
4. Washington Post B1, June 29, 1978. This is the oldest quote the Oxford English Dictionary has listed, although obviously there are older occurrences.
5. Brucker, R. and Murray, R. Trapped! the Story of Floyd Collins, University Press of Kentucky, 1983.
6. . Caribbean Net News. 2005-08-23. Archived from the original on 2008-06-22.
7. "Vindication at Last for a Woman Scorned by Australia's News Outlets". The New York Times. Nov 16, 2014.
8. "Media circus comes digging for gold". Sydney Morning Herald. May 4, 2006.
9. "Radio - ABC Radio Australia". 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
10. "Schapelle Corby: Drug claims, media circus and the family saga that gripped a nation". ABC News. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
11. Geraldine Nordfeldt. "Australia's Schapelle Corby phenomenon". Retrieved 10 December 2015.
12. "Brazil: Making a child murder into a media show · Global Voices". Global Voices. 2008-04-24. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
13. Langton, James (2007-03-11). "Circus comes to town for Conrad Black's trial". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
14. "Rob Ford's crack admission creates media frenzy". CBC. November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
15. "'Constant circus' around Rob Ford a distraction, councillors say". CBC. May 31, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
16. "City hall tours relocated amid Ford media circus". CP24. November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
17. WIRED Staff (1994-04-01). "Paul and Karla Hit the Net". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
18. "Omar Khadr: The case, the compensation and the media". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
19. The Christian Science Monitor (15 October 2010). "As media circus wanes, Chile miners' families turn spotlight on reporters' antics". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
20. "BBC News - World News America - The media circus around Chile's trapped miners". 2010-10-11. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
21. Lacey Rose. "The 'Get' Game Gets Going at Chile Miner Media Circus". Forbes. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
22. "El caso Colmenares y la fascinación de los medios y del público. ¿Qué tiene de especial? ¿Por qué el circo a su alrededor?". Caracol Radio (in Spanish). May 4, 2006.
23. Squires, Nick (September 23, 2011). "Amanda Knox compared to Goebbels by prosecutors". Telegraph (UK). Perugia. Retrieved 2011-09-27. "The trial must be held here, in this courtroom. This lobbying, this media and political circus, this heavy interference, forget all of it," the prosecutor said
24. Lim, Joyce (March 13, 2014). . The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
25. Italia, Rakshande (March 28, 2014). "Desi Dialogues: Media's coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines flight appalling". Inside Toronto. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
26. . Radio Netherlands Worldwide. 2010-06-09. Archived from the original on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
27. "Rage, Riots, and Death: Looking Back at the Pepsi 349 Debacle". Esquire Magazine PH. January 17, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
28. "'A plot hatched in hell': Timeline of the Gomez-Sarmenta murder case". ABS CBN News. August 22, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
29. "Lolit Solis on 1994 Manila Film Fest scam: 'It was a nightmare for me'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. November 20, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
30. "Wowowee stampede kills 73". The Philippine Star. February 5, 2006. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
31. Calica, Aurea (August 29, 2010). "'Media not being used as scapegoat'". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
32. "Vhong Navarro recovering from brutal attack". Rappler. January 25, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
33. "Impending release of convicted rapist-murderer Sanchez sparks outrage". ABS-CBN News. August 21, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
34. "Magalong, Albayalde clash at Senate hearing over 'ninja cops'". ABS-CBN News. October 1, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
35. "TIMELINE: The Barretto family feud". Rappler. October 20, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
36. "ABS-CBN goes off air following NTC order". CNN Philippines. May 5, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
37. "Duterte orders task force to probe alleged PhilHealth anomalies". CNN Philippines. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
38. "Duterte approves dismissal of former PHL ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro". Business Mirror. March 1, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
39. "Palace: China sold COVID-19 vaccine to Philippines at 'BFF' price". ABS CBN News. January 14, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
40. Gutierrez, Jason (21 December 2020). "A Brazen Police Shooting Caught on Video Sparks Anger in the Philippines". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
41. Aranal, Lyshiel (22 February 2021). . Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
42. "Baguio City mayor draws flak for attending Tim Yap's birthday bash". CNN Philippines. January 27, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
43. "TIMELINE: PNP-PDEA 'misencounter' and its aftermath". Rappler. June 8, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
44. "TIMELINE: PDP-Laban's infightings, legal battles among factions". Rappler. July 10, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
45. "LIST: Everything you need to know about the Pharmally pandemic deals scandal". Rappler. December 17, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
46. "Why COA flagged DepEd for P2.4 billion worth of 'outdated' laptops". Rappler. August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
47. "DA official who signed 'illegal' sugar importation resolution resigns". Rappler. August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
48. "STIRI - Fenomenul "Elodia", dupa doi ani". 4 December 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013.
49. MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2009^{[permanent dead link]}, p. 89
50. http://www.cna.ro/IMG/pdf/08.01-09.04.2008.1-DDD_OTV.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
51. "Fenomenul "Elodia", după doi ani". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
52. Taylor, Adam (March 1, 2014). "The Oscar Pistorius trial: Africa's O.J. Simpson?". Washington Post. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
53. Hiscock, John (12 April 2014). "Oscar Pistorius and the echoes of OJ Simpson". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
54. Kang, Haeryun (19 December 2017). "We need to talk about suicide reporting".
55. Maslow, Nick (December 21, 2017). "Jonghyun's coffin carried by pop stars at funeral". Entertainment Weekly.
56. Wongcha-um, Panu (2018-07-06). "Throng of volunteers gather to rescue Thai boys trapped in cave". Reuters.
57. "Media circus follows Melnychenko to Warsaw". Kyiv Post. October 28, 2004. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
58. Sedova, Yana (December 11, 2005). . Kyiv Press Bureau. Vol. LXXIII, no. 50. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
59. "Why did Charlie Gard's court case become a media circus?". Independent.co.uk. 2017-07-24. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12.
60. Knapton, Sarah (March 22, 2009). . The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
61. "Master of media circus for Madeleine McCann". The Telegraph. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
62. Sykes, Tom (2021-02-11). "Meghan Markle Told Her Dad It Was 'Devastating' to Face 'Media Circus' He Created". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
63. "Meghan Markle's Mom Doria Ragland Slams Ex Thomas for Getting Involved in Media "Circus"". E! Online. 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
64. Dooley, Matthew (2023-01-04). "Meghan and Harry blasted for 'Sussex circus' ahead of Duke media blitz". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
65. McConnell, Virginia A.Fatal Fortune: the Death of Chicago's Millionaire Orphan, p. 62 Fatal Fortune: the Death of Chicago's Millionaire Orphan (books.google), Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0-275-98473-7. p. 62
66. Bergreen, Laurence (1996). Capone: The Man and the Era. Simon and Schuster. pp. 365–366. ISBN 978-0684824475.
67. "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
68. "Youths Ordered to Clean Up Rubbish Mess". Berkshire Eagle. Pittsfield, Massachusetts. November 29, 1965. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com. He (Obanhein) said he hoped their case would be an example to others who are careless about disposal of rubbish. 
69. Goldman, Kim; Robertson, Tatsha (2015-09-22). Media Circus: A Look at Private Tragedy in the Public Eye. BenBella Books. ISBN 9781941631607.
70. Gelman, David; Greenberg, Peter S. (31 January 1977). "Ringmaster at the circus". Newsweek. Vol. 89, no. 5. p. 77. ProQuest 214345558.
71. "How the rescue of Baby Jessica ushered in the era of rolling news". The National.
72. Laura L. Finley (2007), Encyclopedia of Juvenile Violence, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 30, ISBN 9780313336829
73. (Elizabeth Davis, The Daily Beacon, January 12, 1996).
74. "Lewinsky Media Circus Now Commonplace". The Daily Beast. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
75. "Exclusive: Monica Lewinsky on the Culture of Humiliation". Vanity Fair. 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
76. Betancourt, Bianca (2021-08-25). "See the Cast of 'Impeachment: American Crime Story' vs. Their Real-Life Counterparts". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
77. "Elian moves home to avoid media circus". The Guardian. 25 April 2000. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
78. Legon, Jeordan (March 14, 2003). "Survey: 'Shark summer' bred fear, not facts". CNN. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
79. Roeper, Richard (July 25, 2002). "Media always produce a summer feeding frenzy". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 11.
80. Miller, Suzanne (24 July 2003). . Spiker. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
81. "TV docuseries seems to suggest Scott Peterson didn't kill pregnant wife Laci". AP News. 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
82. Newsweek, "Martha's Fall," March 15, 2005 . Archived from the original on 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2006-01-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
83. "Lifetime's 'Untouchable' throws the book at Drew Peterson". Chicago Tribune. January 16, 2012.
84. Hinckley, David (January 23, 2010). . New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
85. . Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
86. . digtriad.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
87. "Casey Anthony trial turned into media frenzy". Reuters. July 6, 2011.
88. "Casey Anthony trial: Media frenzy at new heights". CBS News.
89. "Trayvon Martin shooting: Debate over photos escalates". Yahoo! News.
90. "Jodi Arias Trial: An Over-The-Top Media-Spectacle". Huffington Post. May 22, 2013.
91. "Jodi Arias Trial: Jurors weigh murder charge amid "real-life soap opera" spectacle". CBS News. May 6, 2013.
92. . Foz News. February 5, 2013. Archived from the original on April 30, 2013.
93. "In Arias trial, TV cameras never far behind". Yahoo! News. May 22, 2013.
94. "Is the Jodi Arias Trial the Craziest in America?". Inside Edition. April 11, 2013.
95. Ruelas, Richard (May 12, 2013). "Amid many trials, a frenzy over Jodi Arias". USA Today.
96. Dzirutwe, MacDonald (30 July 2015). "'What lion?' Zimbabweans ask, amid global Cecil circus". Reuters. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
97. "Opinion | Cornered on 'Renate Alumnius,' Kavanaugh shifts blame to 'media circus'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
98. Heaney, Michael T. "Analysis | The George Floyd protests generated more media coverage than any protest in 50 years". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
99. "Stakeouts, a Missing Scarf, and a Dying Dog: Inside the George Santos Media Circus". Vanity Fair. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
100. Tully-Mcmanus, Katherine. "Won't you be my neighbor, George Santos?". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
101. Oritz, Erik (January 22, 2023). "Lights, camera, trial: All eyes on Alex Murdaugh as a small South Carolina city prepares for a 'circus'". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-01-23.