Media circus

File:Newark-prudential-terrorist-threat-media-2004.jpg

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.

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.<ref name="mj1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ei1">Template:Cite news</ref> It can also be called a media feeding frenzy or just media frenzy, especially when the media coverage itself is covered.

History

File:Tonya harding returning from norway 1994.jpg

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 then-[[List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players|world Template:Nowrap-ranked]] American tennis athlete Chris Evert was involved: "Their courtship, after all, had been a 'media circus.Template:' "<ref>Lynn Haney (1976). Chris Evert, the Young Champion.</ref> 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."<ref>Washington Post B1, June 29, 1978. This is the oldest quote the Oxford English Dictionary has listed, although obviously there are older occurrences.</ref>

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).<ref>Brucker, R. and Murray, R. Trapped! the Story of Floyd Collins, University Press of Kentucky, 1983.</ref>

Examples

Template:Cleanup list Events described as a media circus include:

Aruba

• The disappearance, and assumed killing, of Natalee Holloway committed by Joran van der Sloot (2005–)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Australia

• The Azaria Chamberlain disappearance of 2-month-old baby in outback Australia (1980)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Beaconsfield Mine collapse (2006)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• 2009 Violence against Indians in Australia controversy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Schapelle Corby Drug smuggler (2014)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 2023 Leongatha mushroom murders trial<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brazil

• The murder of Isabella Nardoni (2008)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Canada

• Albert Johnson aka Mad Trapper of Rat River, a trapper fleeing RCMP concerning a dispute with local indigenous over trapping rights evades a manhunt for a month over 240 km, ending in a shootout at a cabin (1932)
• Conrad Black, business magnate of newspapers, convicted of fraud, embezzlement and corporate destruction, imprisoned in Florida (2007)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Toronto mayor Rob Ford's life, including his usage of drugs, alcohol and involvement with organized crime (2013)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka (serial killers) convicted for the murders of Tammy Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy, and Kristen French (1987–1992)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Omar Khadr (detained as a minor at Guantanamo Bay in 2001, transferred to Canada in 2012, released in May 2015)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Luka Rocco Magnotta, who murdered his Chinese-national roommate and mailed his remains to schools and public offices in 2012 before fleeing to Germany where he was arrested.
• Fatal traffic accident of the Neville-Lake children and their grandfather (2015)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Chile

• 2010 Copiapó mining accident (2010)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Colombia

• The Death of Luis Andres Colmenares (2010)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

India

• Sheena Bora murder case<ref name="Sheena Bora murder: Cast and plot of a real-life soap opera">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Death of Sushant Singh Rajput
• Offensive remarks by Ranveer Allahbadia on India's Got Latent

Italy

• Murder of Maurizio Gucci, by hitmen ordered by ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani (1995)
• Amanda Knox (convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher; her conviction was subsequently overturned) (2015)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Japan

• Murder of Shiori Ino

Malaysia

• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (2014)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Peru

• Joran van der Sloot and the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez (2010)<ref name=RNW-20100609-Peru>Template:Cite news</ref>

Philippines

• Assassination of a Spanish landowner by a Filipino laborer in Negros in 1890, which was covered by Spanish-owned newspapers in Manila in the year's first half.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Cabading killings (1961), a case wherein a father killed his family and his son-in-law before killing himself.<ref name="tpsC20">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Murder of Lucila Lalu (1967)<ref name="tpsC20" /><ref name="ePC20" />
• In the 1990s, there were reports on an alleged notorious killer in Negros Oriental targeting women, although these accounts were never confirmed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Vizconde massacre (1991)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Pepsi Number Fever 349 incident (1992)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez (1993)<ref name="tpsC20" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Manila Film Festival scandal (1994)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Execution of Flor Contemplacion (1995)<ref name="an04">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Chiong murder case (1997)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Murder of Nida Blanca (2001)<ref name="tpsC20" /><ref name="ePC20">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Vhong Navarro assault incident (2014)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Romania

• Disappearance and alleged murder of Elodia Ghinescu, especially on OTV, which aired a couple hundred episodes on the matter (2007)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2009, p. 89</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

South Africa

• Oscar Pistorius on trial for death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (2013–2014)<ref name=pistorius-Mar2014>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=pistorius-Apr2014>Template:Cite news</ref>

South Korea

• Suicide and funeral of K-pop star and Shinee member Kim Jong-hyun (2017)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Spain

• The Alcàsser case (1992)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Wanninkhof-Carabantes case (1999–2006)<ref name="Antolín">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Rodríguez">Template:Cite news</ref>
• The disappearance of Marta del Castillo (2009–2013)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The José Bretón case (2011)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The murder of Asunta Basterra (2013)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The disappearance and murder of Diana Quer (2016–2018)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The murder of Gabriel Cruz (2018)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Thailand

• Tham Luang cave rescue (2018)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Ukraine

• Mykola Melnychenko's involvement in the Cassette Scandal (1999–2000)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

United Kingdom

• The McLibel case (1997)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The disappearance of Madeleine McCann (2008)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The life, career, death and funeral of Jade Goody (2009)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The News International phone hacking scandal<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Charlie Gard case (2017)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "Megxit" feud between Meghan Markle/Prince Harry and the royal family (2020–2023)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The public absence and cancer diagnosis of Kate Middleton (2023-2024)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

United States

File:Dominique Strauss-Kahn media circus.jpg

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<ref>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, Template:ISBN. p. 62</ref>
• The 1932 kidnapping of toddler Charles Lindbergh Jr. Journalist H. L. Mencken described the incident as "the biggest story since the Resurrection".<ref>Notorious Murders Template:Webarchive; CrimeLibrary.com; accessed August 2015</ref>
• The 1933 murder trial of Jessie Costello, the "smiling widow"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 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<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The 1954 trial of Sam Sheppard. The U.S. Supreme Court held "massive, pervasive, and prejudicial publicity" prevented him from receiving a fair trial<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 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<ref name=eagle>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Openaccess</ref>
• Coverage of the investigation and trial of the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and four others by the Manson family<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The murder of John Lennon in December 1980.
• 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"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The rescue of baby Jessica McClure (1987)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The O. J. Simpson murder case (1994–1995)<ref name=pistorius-Mar2014/><ref name=pistorius-Apr2014/>
• 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"<ref>(Elizabeth Davis, The Daily Beacon, January 12, 1996).[1]</ref>
• The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal (1998)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
• The Elián González custody conflict (2000)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Summer of the Shark (2001)<ref name="Legon">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Miller">Template:Cite news</ref>
• The trial of Scott Peterson for the murder of his wife Laci Peterson (2004), "The circus became even more raucous when Peterson went on trial for murder in 2004"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The trial of Martha Stewart (2004), "The stone-faced Stewart never broke stride as she cut a path through the media circus"<ref>Newsweek, "Martha's Fall," March 15, 2005 Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Runaway bride case (2005)<ref>Template:Cite news (page B01)</ref>
• The disappearance of Stacy Peterson (2007)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The alleged teenage "pregnancy pact" at Gloucester High School (2008)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• 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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The killing of Trayvon Martin (2012), "Here is where the media circus takes a decidedly ugly turn", Eric Deggans wrote<ref>"Trayvon Martin shooting: Debate over photos escalates". Yahoo! News.</ref>
• The murder of Travis Alexander (2013), where Jodi Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Killing of Cecil the lion (2015)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed (2020)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Killing of Gabby Petito (2021)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Casey White prison escape (2022)
• Will Smith slapping Chris Rock (2022)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial (2022)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The 2022 University of Idaho killings (2022)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The various scandals surrounding George Santos (2022–2023)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The trial of Alex Murdaugh (2023)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Titan submersible implosion (2023)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Killing of Brian Thompson and arrest of suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione (2024)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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 (disambiguation)
• Sensationalism
• Silly season
• Trial by media
• Trial of the century
• Yellow journalism