1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457234803321

Autore

Ehrat Johannes <1952->

Titolo

Power of scandal : semiotic and pragmatic in mass media / / Johannes Ehrat

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2011

©2011

ISBN

1-4426-6168-2

1-4426-8675-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (424 p.)

Collana

Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication

Disciplina

302.2/4

Soggetti

Mass media - Semiotics

Scandals in mass media

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 A Theoretical Approach to the Nature of Media Scandal -- 2 What Is Publicity, the Public Sphere? -- 3 Semiotic of Publicity -- 4 Publicity in Media Theory -- 5 From Jubilation to Scandal -- 6 Judgment: Bringing into a Scandal- Position -- 7 The Course of the Scandal Pro-Gram -- 8 Effect and Reality of Scandal -- 9 Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Are there events that are inherently scandalous? Power of Scandal finds that the very idea of 'scandal' is derived not from an event, but from public opinion - which, in turn, is construed by media narratives. Scandal is powerful because of its ability to challenge institutions by destabilizing their legitimacy. The media plays an integral role in the creation of scandal because it interprets real events as purposeful actions for the public. Examining the ubiquity of scandals in today's mass media, Johannes Ehrat's conclusions are fresh and surprising.Ehrat applies classic semiotic and pragmatic thought to contemporary media issues, mainly moralist discourse from sex abuse cases to the phenomenon of televangelism. Arguing that sociological and



communications studies of scandal have ignored the media's constructed nature, Ehrat focuses on how meaningful public narrative is produced. By examining the parallel worlds of media and public opinion, Power of Scandal uses an alternative heuristic for understanding mass communication that is both rigorous and sophisticated.