Douglas Kellner is a leading theorist of critical media literacy and media culture. He has been a contributor to the studies of alter-globalization processes. Kellner has co-authored an award-winning trilogy of books on postmodernism and philosophy, arts, and science and technology.


The mainstream corporate media today in the United States process events, news, and information in the form of media spectacle. In an arena of intense competition with 24/7 cable TV networks, talk radio, Internet sites and blogs, and ever proliferating new media like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, competition for attention is ever more intense leading the corporate media to go to sensationalistic tabloidized stories which they construct in the forms of media spectacle that attempt to attract maximum audiences for as much time as possible, until the next spectacle emerges.

By spectacle, I mean events that are out of the ordinary and habitual daily routine which become special media events. They involve an aesthetic dimension and often are dramatic, bound up with competition like the Olympics or Oscars.

They are highly public social events, often taking a ritualistic form to celebrate society's highest values. Media spectacle refers to technologically mediated events, in which media forms like broadcasting, print media, or the Internet process events in a spectacular form. Examples of political events that became media spectacles would include the Clinton sex and impeachment scandal in the late 1990s, the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 terror attacks, and, currently, the meltdown of the US and perhaps global financial system in the context of a US presidential election. In these pre-election remarks, I want to note how the 2008 election has played out as a media spectacle and to highlight the role of media spectacles in contemporary US politics.

Presidential campaigns in the US, but also globally, have become major media spectacles, often decided by spectacular events. During the 2004 US presidential election, media spectacle was a major determinant of the campaign with the so-called Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry's war record and daily ads and Republican demonstrations dramatizing Kerry's alleged “flip-flopping.” (see Kellner 2005). In this article, written two weeks before the November 4 presidential election, I will review the role of media spectacle in the Democratic Party primary where it played a major role and in the general election contest between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Primary Spectacle

Looking at the 2008 Democratic party primaries we see exhibited once again the triumph of the spectacle. In this case, the spectacle of Obama and Hillary, the first serious African American candidate vs. the first serious woman candidate brought on a compelling spectacle of race and gender, as well as a campaign spectacle in incredibly hard-fought and unpredictable primaries. As a media spectacle, the Democratic Party primary could be read as a reality TV show. For the media and candidates alike the Democratic primary has been Survivor, or The Apprentice ("You're fired!"), with losing candidates knocked out week by week. With the two standing candidates Obama and Clinton, it has been The Amazing Race, as well as American Gladiator and American Idol rolled into one, with genuine suspense concerning the outcome.


From the first primary in Iowa where in January he won a startling victory, it has been the Obama spectacle, a spectacle of Hope, of Change, of Color, and of Youth. In addition to his campaign speeches on the stump everyday that have mobilized record crowds, after every primary election, Obama made a spirited speech, even after his loss in New Hampshire and other primaries. He gave a magnificent Super Tuesday victory speech that could have been the most watched event of the primary season and was probably the most circulated speech on the Internet that week, in which Obama pulled slightly ahead in a multi-state primary night.

Obama then won 11 primaries in a role, made another magnificent speech after the Wisconsin primary where Obama took over airways for about an hour, providing a vision of the US coming together, mobilizing people for change, carrying out a progressive agenda, getting out of Iraq, using the money spent there to rebuild the infrastructure, schools, health system, and so on. Even when he lost primaries, he gave inspiring and impassioned speeches.

There has also been an impressive Internet spectacle in support of Obama's presidency. Obama has raised unprecedented amount money on the Internet, he is working toward having over one million friends on Facebook, and has mobilized youth and others through text-messaging and emails. The YouTube (UT) music video “Obama Girl,” which has a young woman singing about why she supports Obama with images of his speeches interspersed, has gotten over 5 million hits and is one of the most popular in history. More interestingly, grassroots campaigns for Obama illustrate the vast potential impact of YouTube and Internet spectacle for participatory democracy.

Among the enormous numbers of Internet-distributed artifacts for the Obama campaign, Will,I,Am's Yes, We Can music video manifests how grassroots-initiated alternative media artifacts can inspire and mobilize individuals to support Obama. This MTV style UT music video, breaks with conventional ways of producing music video, as Will,I,Am assembled a variety of artists' grassroots participation in its production. In his words:

I wasn't afraid to stand for “change”... it was pure inspiration... so I called my friends... and they called their friends... We made the song and video... Usually this process would take months... but we did it together in 48 hours... and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

In addition to this alternative media artifact made by professional musicians, there are grassroots-based videos made by ordinary people who have produced their own videos and narratives to support Obama, collected on a YouTube (UT) website. On behalf of Senator Obama, traditionally underrepresented youth and people of color have vigorously utilized UT-style self-made videos as an innovative platform for grassroots political mobilization which contain their personal narratives and reasons they support Obama for President in order to inspire and consolidate potential Obama supporters on and offline.

Obama art posters have appeared throughout major cities like Los Angeles, and all over LA, on stop signs, underpasses, buildings and billboards there are hundreds of posters and stickers on Obama with the word HOPE emblazoned across. Even street artists have been doing Obama graffiti and urban art in public places.

So in terms of stagecraft and spectacle, in Obama's daily stump speeches on the campaign trial, his post-victory and even defeat speeches in the Democratic primaries, and his grassroots Internet and cultural support have shown that Obama is a master of the spectacle. As for Hillary, she simply wasn't as good as Obama in creating spectacles, although she became proficient as the primaries went along, and near the end of the presidential primaries the spectacle of Hillary the Fighter emerged as she relentlessly campaigned day and night and was just barely.

To be continued....