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ABSTRACT While a convincing set of arguments exist in favor of the integrative role of media in contemporary societies, there remains suspicion based on the relative nature of what counts as 'common values' for whom. In this paper I delineate some of the key problems related to matters of mediated social solidarity, as instigated by Dayan and Katz's famous neo-Durkheimian perspective of 'media events,' the exceptional gatherings produced by live media coverage of events like 'contests, conquests and coronations', which, arguably, interrupt routine and affirm social cohesion. I review some of the relevant literature in the field, with a briefcase study of the homecoming of Croatian Winter Olympic 2002 winner Janica Kostelić. I show that, in the context of the proliferation of new media and global broadcasting, media events should be understood more modestly as momentary encounters with media's representation of cohesion, while actual solidarity remains contingent upon the inter-discursive interaction with an event's program.
KEY WORDS
MEDIA EVENTS, PUBLIC, TELEVISION, SOCIETY, SOLIDARITY, SOCIABILITY
SAŽETAK Iako mnogo tvrdnji ide u prilog tezi o integrativnoj funkciji medija u suvremenim društvima, ipak se u nju sumnja, i to na temelju rasprava koje pokazuju da je ono što se često spominje kao 'zajedničke vrijednosti' relativno. U ovome članku autor se osvrće na nekoliko ključnih problema vezanih uz medijski posredovano pripadanje, kako ga na agendu medijskih studija postavljaju Dayan i Katz svojom neodurkheimovskom perspektivom o 'medijskim dogaðajima', izvanserijskim živim prijenosima javnih dogaðaja, poput natjecanja, pobjeda ili krunidbi, koji prekidaju rutinu i učvršćuju društvenu koheziju. Analizirajući relevantnu literaturu te testirajući Dayanov i Katzov koncept na slučaju povrataka hrvatske skijašice Janice Kostelić u domovinu sa Zimskih olimpijskih igara 2002., autor tvrdi da je, osobito u kontekstu proliferacije tzv. novih medija i globalnih komunikacija, medijske dogaðaje potrebno shvatiti skromnije - kao tehnološki posredovane susrete s medijskom reprezentacijom društvene integracije koja u osnovi zavisi od interdiskurzivne interakcije s emisijom (prijenosom) dogaðaja.
KLJUČNE RIJEČI
MEDIJSKI DOGAÐAJI, JAVNOST, TELEVIZIJA, DRUŠTVO, ZAJEDNIŠTVO, DRUŠTVENOST
INTRODUCTION
There exist media through which members communicate to themselves in concert about the characters of their collectivities, as if these do constitute entities that are temporarily coherent. Public events are conveyances of this kind. (Handelman, 1998: 15)
How contemporary societies sustain themselves amid complex interconnections of individual and common agendas has...