The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America
Also known as The Image (Boorstin)
Daniel J. Boorstin's early-1960s book on pseudo-events and celebrity.
At a glance
Key ideas
Extravagant expectations, Pseudo-events, Celebrity …
See all 4Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Boorstin argues that Americans' extravagant expectations of news lead the media and politicians to manufacture pseudo-events.
- A ribbon-cutting, a press release or a staged occasion fills the gap between real news.
- He defines a celebrity as "a person who is known for his well-knownness".
- He warns that leaders were starting to resemble media stars rather than politicians.
Why it matters
- It is an early description of what later theorists called hyperreality, and its terms "pseudo-event" and "known for being well known" are still in use.
Key facts
Key ideas
-
Extravagant expectations1
People demand that news entertain them.
-
Pseudo-events1
Spectacles staged by politicians and mistaken for real news or real politics.
-
Celebrity1
"A person who is known for his well-knownness."
-
Image over reality2
Advertising made the reproduction of an event matter more than the event itself.
Connections
Written by
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us
The line under a date fills as time passes: empty when new, then one equal share each for a day, a week, a month and a year. For episodes and other items it is full at 2 years; for "last checked", at a year. A striped line means the date is known only to the month or year.