The Image

The world of media and fast-traveling news is constantly growing in relevance and unlikely to slow down any time soon. Daniel J. Boorstin’s The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America outlines a growing problem where Americans do not understand the true nature of “news.”  Boorstin argues that Americans can not differentiate crucial events from real news due to their constant manufacturing, warped view of celebrities, and their own image of America. While news was once simply in the hands of God or the Devil, it has become an expectation to exist eternally in society. Boorstin argues, “The successful reporter is one who can find a story, even if there is no earthquake or assassination or civil war. If he cannot find a story, then he must make one—by the questions he asks of public figures, by the surprising human interest he unfolds from some commonplace event, or by ‘the news behind the news’” (Boorstin 24). Moreover, The Image tackles the notion of being famous for simply being famous and its harm towards true heroes. Boorstin primarily blames the Graphic Revolution and its ability to spread one’s name like wildfire, opposed to the true hero that is self-made. Lastly, Boorstin establishes an idea that America has casted an image for itself and prevented its people from escaping it. They see themselves as the center of everything. Boorstin’s arguments made me think a lot and question my own livelihood. I have grown up alongside pseudo-events, but it is practically all I know now. I am also excited to see common lifestyles outside of America now that I have learned how capitalistic-focused America is.

In this book, Boorstin argues that America is built upon and runs on images and this has affected the way Americans view certain events, products, people, et cetera. With the rise of what Boorstin labels the Graphic Revolution, pseudo-events have taken over the place of spontaneous events. He outlines pseudo-events as planned events, produced specifically to be seen and reported on.

One example that Boorstin gives to prove how images have distorted the public’s expectations is the news. With the coming of the Graphic Revolution and the use of media, American news has transitioned from morning or afternoon news to a 24 hour news cycle. So, to please the public’s expectation of news, news organizations plant pseudo-events and merely by placing them in the news, make these events newsworthy.

Another example is through travel. People have gradually turned from being travelers to being tourists. Tourists expect to see and experience certain things when they travel away from their homes. Rather than being immersed in an active role of experiencing different cultures, tourists take a more passive role of observing. Travel has become a pseudo-event because the experiences tourists seek are usually planned now to insure that they have a good trip.

“The Image” has made me aware of how accustomed we are to pseudo-events and the expectations that have come out of the rise of pseudo-events. Specifically for traveling, it made me painfully aware of how tourists look and act when they’re traveling, including myself. We walk in herds, take pictures of everything, and clog up walking areas. We have gathered high expectations of foreign lands through the media and flock to places we think are important to see. The images we conjure up of places dictate where we go and what we do. I can see media literacy coming in play so we are able to separate pseudo-events from the real places.

Daniel Boorstin’s book, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, gives insight into how the media helps create, maintain, and even destroy the importance of places, people, events, and things. In this book, Boorstin coins the term pseudo-events. He defines this as — someone planning, planting or inciting an event for the sole purpose of reporting on it, with an ambiguous relation to the truth of the event, and it intends for the event to be a self-fulfilling prophecy (Boorstin 19).

Boorstin highlights how televised political debates are fabricated piece by piece to make something that people consider a meaningful event. The performances by the candidates are rehearsed and have scripted responses to questions. Audiences are strategically seeing the most important action of the debate via the live television broadcast (Boorstin 30). The planning and advertisement of this debate itself are to create a conversation around the candidates and the topics they endorse.

Additionally, the media helps create tourists’ views of other countries and nations through pseudo-events. Instead of purely exploring a new country they are focused on passively absorbing experiences designed for passive enjoyment and appreciation of the culture of that location. These fabricated experiences are sold through guided tours or curated museums.

After reading Boorstin’s book, I am thinking differently about how I am presenting foreign places through images or videos on various social media platforms. It reminded me of the common internet phrase, “take a picture or it didn’t happen”. I am so caught up in the need to capture what I’m experiencing instead of fully and consciously experiencing it. Throughout our time in Paris, I think we will learn more about the considerations that go into posting photos or videos. Especially what implications it has if you are inaccurately representing your experience or the place whether you mean to or not.

Daniel Boorstin, a well-known historical and political figure, published The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America in 1962. This book explains how events that happen in society are frequently not truly actual events; instead, they are events that other members put on to increase reaction from the remaining members of society. Throughout the book, Boorstin argues that many of the “events” that happen in America are not natural, which is why American society has such a skewed perception of news. He believes that for an event to be actual news, it cannot be premeditated, used for media, have an unclear underlying relation to reality, nor be used for a self-fulfilling prophecy. He uses the example of a hotel holding a banquet for the upcoming opening anniversary and how the hotel did not need to hold this event; they merely held it for the press to capture media to present to the public. Boorstin also argues that traveling has become a way for humans to create pseudo-events for their benefit. He believes that tourists are searching for unauthentic and unintended events that better suit their image for traveling. 

Since reading this piece of work, it has made me think differently about travel. I was, and still am, the traveler who loves to go on adventures. That has not changed; what has changed is now I am questioning what my intentions behind that were. Was I eager to explore because I was thoroughly interested in what we were doing, or did I want that experience because it fit my image of travel? I cannot answer the question now, but I believe traveling to Paris will help me figure it out. Focusing on media ethics and media literacy will alter how I see this trip because I will think of certain aspects of our journey differently than ever before.

The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, by Daniel Boorstin, is an interesting book that dives into the power of pseudo-events across many different disciplines. A pseudo-event is a staged event that is used to garner the interest and attention of the public. These events can take many forms due to their appeal across the board to people, companies, and organizations wanting attention. For example, news reporters both use and benefit from pseudo-events. A reporter can ask questions in specific ways to draw out an answer that will be newsworthy. Furthermore, many news organizations will even use non-comments to create news. Boorstin’s prime example of news benefiting is FDR’s revolutionary Fireside Chats. Tourism industries all across the world also use pseudo-events to draw people in. Boorstin’s prime example of this is creating adventure for tourists. For example, many South American countries will give tourists the opportunity to scale a waterfall or zipline through a rainforest in a highly controlled environment. Thus Boorstin questions if any of these adventure experiences are actually real adventures, or if they’re just contrived experiences provided by a company for the benefit of consumers. 

Reading this book gave me a lot to think about both in the world and in our study abroad experience. I personally have had experience traveling and taking part in pseudo-travel-events as well as attempting to get a real experience. I think that, unfortunately, most travel experiences tend to be slightly pseudo-eventish. Even a museum is a contrived experience that draws lots of different artifacts into a centralized location. Furthermore, many museums will attempt to tell a story to further engage visitors. When considering media ethics, I think that pseudo-events will be around for a long time because they are seen as ethical. However, we should still apply media literacy skills to determine what is natural, and what is contrived.

The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America by Daniel J. Boorstin is a book that discusses the creation and impact of pseudo-events within the media and how they shape our perceptions of the real world. Throughout the book, Boorstin uses different examples to explain the benefits of pseudo-events and why society has created such high expectations of constantly curated media. Boorstin’s example of a hotel anniversary celebration in Chapter One is used to illustrate the desired outcome of pseudo-events. He mentions how “the celebration is held, photographs are taken, the occasion is widely reported, and the object is accomplished.” (Boorstin 10) The “object” that Boorstin mentions is what is considered to be generated media that publicly notifies consumers of the hotel’s services. The hotel owners did not need to throw an anniversary event for any reason other than going their presence in the media. While this event creates several benefits for the hotel owners, it creates equal benefits for press and media outlets for it creates an equal business opportunity for both parties. There is great financial motivation on both ends of the press; the people reporting and the people whose stories they are telling. Society simply desires to be entertained and stimulated, regardless of whether or not the news is fake and our ability to convince our audiences of such pseudo-events has increased with concerning ease. The main arguments throughout the book have allowed me to think critically about viewing media throughout upcoming to Paris in several ways. I am most excited to see how different media is conveyed and prioritized in Paris; Do they create a similar amount of pseudo-events as in the states? Are there different advertising techniques that prove to be more successful in different parts of the world? Does European culture value the same ideals in media as American culture? Ethics and literacy within media oftentimes reflect the ethical values of the culture. Based on the information I have gathered about European culture in the past, they seem to be far less concerned with money and material items in comparison to American culture which could reflect in their media production and consumption. Arguments made by Boorstin have also allowed me to pay closer attention to how tourist attractions may be advertised and what methods deem more successful than others. When speaking to different audiences, alternate methods of advertising should be used and I am anticipating seeing the difference between media for tourist attractions and media for standard goods and services for daily use in Paris.

In Daniel Boorstin’s The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, Boorstin unpacks the growth of pseudo-events. At the core of his argument, Boorstin illustrates how Americans came to anticipate and trust the image of people, places, and things more than the underlying realities. The blurred realities behind pseudo-events have become an attraction newsmakers work to create, and consumers yearn to be exposed. 

Boorstin describes how news, once gathered, is now made based on the switch of emphasis from relevance to entertainment, resulting in pressure for reporters to seek out and create desirable news. In this context, pseudo-events come into play through selfishly plotted scenarios ideal for crafting images that will hook consumers.

Applying the image to travel, Boorstin explains how the traveler, once active and now passive, focused more on spectating rather than an authentic act of travel (84), thus becoming a tourist. He describes tourist activities as pseudo-events for foreign consumption (102) where the tourist seeks out the image, not the unpredictable realities. 

Critiquing how the American tourist travels, Boorstin argues, ”…he is prepared to be ruled by the law of pseudo-events, by which the image, the well-contrived imitation, outshines the original” (107). Defying this stereotype and overcoming the entrapment of pseudo-events is something I hope my work this summer can showcase. 

A fundamental issue with the images of America is that people are not aware of their perceptions of reality getting misconstrued. Recognizing the illusions placed upon America and the people is the only place to start building back up and reforming the ideals over the images. As journalism and communication students, we can do our small part by exposing whoever we can to ethical, authentic media. 

Inevitability, our work with media ethics and literacy will produce images of some form, but I believe we control how close these images are to reality. I look forward to taking on this challenge over the next four weeks.

Daniel J. Boorstin’s book The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America explores the desire for illusions to fulfill America’s “extravagant expectations” (3). Boorstin evaluates the ways in which media, travel, and advertising coincide with pseudo-events ability to create attractions. Initially, pseudo-events were designed to fulfill the growing desire for news in America, but have evolved to consist of interviews, celebrations, announcements, attractions anything that is generated and fabricated for the public’s attention and does not consist of the actual happenings of spontaneity.

The evolution of travel that fixates on tourist attractions is rooted in pseudo-events and caters to the American image. Travel was once intended to broaden one’s perspectives of the world and immerse the traveler in cultural discomfort, “The experience has become diluted, contrived, [and] prefabricated” (79) with the emergence of the tourist. American’s are subject to desiring the fabrication of well-knownness (47); as Boorstin puts it, “The self-conscious effort to provide local atmosphere is itself thoroughly American” (99). Tourism is rooted in convenience and the appeasement of Americanized culture. Franchise hotels, museums, and tourist attractions all cater to idealized images created by American media. As Boorstin puts it, “We expect a faraway atmosphere if we go to a nearby place; and we expect everything to be relaxing, sanitary, and Americanized if we go to a faraway place” (4).

This version of travel is rooted in the American desire for extravagant expectations, and I too find myself guilty of having some expectations for this trip. However, after reading The Image I plan to enter Paris with a critical eye and hope to increase my awareness of the commercial inflictions pseudo-events have had on the image of Paris. I don’t think pseudo-events must be a bad thing, and I’m looking forward to learning how we as journalists, PR professionals, and advertisers can beneficially utilize the pseudo-event to authentically represent foreign places.

Daniel J. Boorstin’s book “The Image” introduces his audience to the main argument of his book: the gradual divide between our reality versus our expectations due to a shift in American culture. Boorstin claims that “pseudo-events,” or events fabricated by the media for the sole purpose of publicity, have changed what Americans view as real news, thus contributing to the American culture. Thus, in his book, he discusses the illusions in our world that we mistake for reality. A quote I selected from the beginning of the book stood out to me because it greatly summarizes the point I’m trying to reach: “We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality” (Boorstin, p. 6).

            To illustrate in a clearer sense what Boorstin is arguing in his book, he provides his audience with a plethora of examples in the media. He even goes as far as redefining the word “celebrity” and claims that they become a fabrication based on our concepts of fame. He also discusses the evolution of travel in relation to modes of transportation. He discusses how the modernization of transportation takes away from the traveling experience. Thus, what we see via travel is a pseudo-event itself because it has been made for travelers to see on their route. Lastly, he discusses painting, photography, and television, among other media to discuss how they have become a fabricated image for America.

            I think Boorstin’s arguments, at times, are valid. When considering our time abroad, it’s interesting to consider the shift in our culture when it comes to pseudo-events and “images” that blur reality. I think a major connection to the book we’ll see is the media’s view of Paris. The city has been romanticized for many decades through films and photos, thus, in a way, the city has been fabricated and becomes a pseudo-event itself.

“The Image,” by Daniel J. Boorstin argues that the proliferation of pseudo-events is increasing the divide between our perceived reality, the image, and the true reality we exist in. Boorstin describes the “pseudo-event” as a fabricated event where one party tries to create influence over an audience. Due to our human nature of, “extravagant expectations,” the constant desire to be entertained by media, Boorstin says, these media-sponsored pseudo-events have become so vivid and prevalent in our news cycle that our perceived world is an illusion. “To discover our illusions will not solve the problems of our world. But if we do not discover them, we will never discover our real problems.” (p. 15)

Boorstin introduces the trend in media to exploit our extravagant expectations and utilize their ever-growing capability to communicate messages, sparked from The Graphic Revolution, to fill gaps in news cycles and manufacture stories. Boorstin uses the fabrication of heroes from our everyday celebrities as an example, deceiving the public into a fantasy world through fame. Boorstin relates this idea to the fleeting adventure and personal growth which he says once came from international travel. As commercialization has infiltrated advertising media, travel has become cheaper and more organized minimizing the past risk of traveling abroad, creating an “at-home” environment indirect to the real experience, and moving the focus to “pleasure-seeking tourists,” Boorstin says.

Boorstins’ arguments have certainly made me aware of the shifting nature of travel abroad. I feel it has made me more critical of messaging in advertising and news stories publicized by the media, with an increased focus on the commercial purpose of these pseudo-events. I will be interested to see how our trip this summer will affect my views of ethics in media, whether that be a more praising or disparaging stance. I’m interested to observe the similarities and differences in how the media conducts mass communication in a foreign country.