Disaster News: the Use of Trauma and Therapy As Entertainment Tools in Popular Talk Shows

Disaster news: the use of trauma and therapy as entertainment tools in popular talk shows

Submitted by: Lisanne Bosch Student number: 10712550

Supervisor: Sudeep Dasgupta Second reader: Jaap Kooijman

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master degree Television and Cross Media Culture

Date: 29/06/2018

Abstract:

Inspired by the use of memory and trauma in the 2008 film Waltz with Bashir by Ari Folman, and the idea that trauma narratives play a large role in the media industry, this thesis looks at how national tragedies are portrayed through talk shows. Technological changes within the media landscape are creating a rise in events being filmed directly by victims or onlookers. This adds further shattering of an already fragmented media news landscape. While this thesis deals largely with talk shows, they make extensive use of this wider media landscape for newsgathering and sharing. Many talk shows combine disaster narratives and serious news with the sensationalist nature of raw emotions as affective entertainment tools. For the research of this phenomena I have used the Framing theory, the Affect theory and notions of memory and trauma in relation to therapy. Using two man-made disasters as objects of analysis: the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 and the Las Vegas shooting. Framing shows that the combination of official news, mobile and the talk show’s own footage will lead to a high level of credibility. The affect theory reveals that the use of visuals also create more personal, emotional and memorable news stories. It is encouraged to share emotions more openly in public spheres, and it has been demonstrated that shared affectivity results in a feeling of national identity. Even though it is in the talk show’s own interest to use trauma narratives and striking visuals to get more views, it also generates a wider debate and encourages the process of healing. While small differences exist between the coverage of the two events in The USA and The Netherlands, the conclusions largely apply to both.

Table of contents:

List of illustrations: 4

Chapter 1: Introduction 5 Research question 6 Objects of analysis 7

Chapter 2: Framing, affect and trauma in talk shows 9 Entertainment news 9 2.1 Disaster media coverage 10 2.2 Talk shows 11 Framing theory 13 Affect theory 15 4.1 Affect of imagery 16 4.2 Affect in the news 17 Trauma and Therapeutic discourse 18 5.1 Trauma 18 5.2 Memory 20 5.3 Therapy and talk shows 21

Chapter 3: Analysis 24 6.1 Narrative surrounding MH17 25 6.1.1 I am no longer anybody’s daughter, I am no longer anybody’s sister 28 6.1.2 MH17-slachtoffer Karlijn krijgt postuum haar bul 32 6.1.3 Nabestaanden willen meer international druk 35 6.2 Narrative surrounding Las Vegas Shooting 39 6.2.1 Ellen Meets Las Vegas Survivors Jesus Campos and Stephen Shuck 39 6.2.2 A Young Couple Tells Megyn Kelly How They Survived Las Vegas Shooting 43

Chapter 4: Conclusion 44

References 47

List of illustrations:

Figure Page 1: The procession of hearses from Eindhoven to Hilversum with victims of MH17 26 2: RTL Summer Late Night interview Katja Renkers 30 3: Katja Renkers and international flags half mast at Eindhoven airport. 30 4: Karlijn and her boyfriend on holiday 32 5: Robby on the balcony of his hotel room listening to shooting and bombings. 36 6: Robby at the crash site looking for Daisy and Bryce’s belongings 37 7: Stephen Schuck (left) and Jesus Campos (right) shown looking at floor plan. 41 8: Nick and Olivia posing in front of handmade poster 43

Chapter 1: Introduction

Almost everyone has experienced some type or form of emotion that was triggered, enhanced or even produced by the media. Media uses emotion, something so intrinsically human, to create affective communities by paying specific attention to such emotions that bring people together. Disaster reporting, for instance, is very emotional in nature by covering stressful scenarios and focusing on the emotions of an individual directly affected, or the collective emotions from a larger group of people. Emotional reporting, through which there is a rise in public expression of feelings, has become more popular in recent years and plays a part in the social trend that is shifting public discourse from factual and informational to being more affective and personal. Television has played “a notable and controversial role in integrating and assimilating ‘trauma’ as a mode of experience into the broader psychic economy” (Biressi, 401). It has been shown that negative news stories, no matter if they are with or in absence of video, simply obtain increased attention (Pfau et al. 305). However, as Williams and Solomon have said: “emotional expression can never be seen as pure raw emotion” (qtd. In Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 5). Instead they say it is influenced by ritual forms and are masked by “the trappings of culture and experience, constrained and complicated by the ‘display rules’ of society” (5). An event is seen as a ‘media disaster’ once it has taken over most media outlets and is portrayed as being large scale, often traumatic and perhaps even a historical happening that “circulate potent symbols and invoke/or mobilize solidarities” (qtd. In pantti, Wahl-Jorgensen, 7). Shocking news, especially when it affects a large community or nation, will make the event a high priority story that is the most important for the public to know. Shared emotions, which are expressed in public spheres and felt in large communities, help to form and maintain a sense of national belonging. As a nation, a community, or simply as humans,

[w]e are concerned with meanings and values as they are actively lived and felt, and the relations between these and formal or systematic beliefs are in practice variable, over a range from formal assent with private dissent to the more nuanced interaction between selected and interpreted beliefs and acted and justified experiences. (Williams, 132)

This quote presents that it is common for people to try and find meaning behind everything, and the media has played a large part in a circle of influence, as they have been impacted by society's ideas and belief systems, all the while at the same time influencing these same systems. Using specific framing techniques that are designed to garner affective engagement from an audience, the media can define the collective sentiment and memory of a community. Frames provide a certain perspective on either issues, people or events to make them more meaningful. With constant changes in modern technology, come changes in the way that people engage with information and the news as well. Newsgathering has become increasingly fragmented through the rise in social media platforms and mobile media. This trend continues and creates a lot of competition for traditional news forms, such as newspapers and television news channels. In recent years it has become very popular to get news from social media platforms such as Reddit or Facebook, as well as entertainment news shows such as The Daily show with Trevor Noah. The latter is a news satire television program that draws inspiration from actual news stories, political figures and other media organizations. Talk shows and other forms of ‘therapeutic television’ such as reality TV, have formed “an entire culture of confession and witnessing, of exposure and self-exposure”, using these well known notions of trauma as forms of entertainment (Biressi, 401).

Research question

This thesis aims to look at how national tragedies are portrayed through talk shows, by way of framing, use of trauma and therapy as entertainment tools. This thesis will focus on the literature read, providing connections made between the Framing theory, the affect theory and trauma, which will be the theoretical lenses through which the production of national traumas in talk shows will be analysed. Within the current media system, framing is an important tool to analyse a news story in terms of format and when connected to affect can lead to a greater understanding what the reasons are behind the spectacularization of certain stories. Generally, a sense of relationship is built between the audience and the news tellers and traumatic events, both nationally and personally, create an emotionally intense experience which the media can use as a tool to connect and affect an audience. Thus, dealing with emotionally charged media content requires an understanding of how such images and visual aids of disasters affect their viewers. Lastly, therapy culture is a concept that is applicable to trauma studies, especially when looked through a talk show lense. Trauma literature and psychoanalysis have become increasingly popular, and these narratives of the past have frequently been structured surrounding the themes of victimhood

and trauma, as well as healing and therapy. The theories will be used to show how these are all related within the concept of therapy news, and in chapter three be applied to the object of analysis. To clarify, the object of analysis are two man-made disasters, firstly the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, otherwise known as MH17 or MAS17. I will be referring to the crash as MH17. Secondly the Las Vegas shooting in the United States. These events will be analysed by looking at a variety of fragments from the American talk show The Ellen Degeneres Show, and the Dutch show RTL Late night, using the concepts and findings made in relation to the formats of the TV shows.

Objects of analysis

The crash of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is seen as one of The Netherlands’ most severely impactful events in recent years. This was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was flying over the Ukraine when shot down on the 17th of July 2014, resulting in the death of all 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board (Mullen, CNN). The aircraft was found near Hrabovein Donetsk Oblast which is 40 km from the Ukraine-Russia border (Alexander, The Daily Telegraph), and was shot down during the ‘Battle of Shakhtarsk’ during the ‘War in Donbass’. According to Olga Lopatynska reporting from a publicly available preliminary report from the Dutch Safety Board, MH17 was shattered in the air likely because of the high-energy object that penetrated the aircraft and caused significant structural damage (6). A “high-energy object” is described to be a Buk missile system created by the Russians that can shoot down moving aircraft from high altitudes with precision (Lopatynska, 6). This is the only ‘valid’ explanation because there are no other indications that the crash was caused by either actions of the crew or a technical difficulty. However, because of numerous rumours and disinformation, many tend to believe the Dutch government has not been forthcoming with credible information. One year after the accident, many news organizations such as RTL Nieuws, NOS Nieuws and the Volkskrant appealed separately to the “Government Information Act” to gain insight into the documents. The ministry decided to make them public partially, but the organizations found this not enough. According to NOS News editor-in chief Marcel Gelauff, the organizations have joined forces because "we want to underline that publicity is so crucial in this case. It is not just about the surviving relatives, but also about the actions of the Dutch government and the political relations in Europe" (“Nederlandse media naar rechter”). It is deemed the seventh-deadliest aviation disaster and the deadliest airliner shootdown. Making sense of such a tragedy and seeking comfort in the midst of national panic and sadness can help the public

move forward with their mourning process. The Dutch government and the news responded quickly, providing what they knew to be facts at the time, which helped the public a tremendous deal to understand the unimaginable. However, providing news so quickly went at the cost of truthfulness because there was simply too much that was unknown (Joost Niemoller). Even now, the truth behind the shootdown is still a topic of debate amongst scholars, the public and the news because many conclusions were formed by circumstantial evidence (Joost Niemoller). Joost also mentions on his blog that because death is often not unexpected, when it is it can cause a great deal of shock. This shock can be dealt with by providing answers to questions as to why and how, and this happens both in the personal and public spheres around the world. He brings forth 9/11 as an example of national trauma resulting in strong feelings like panic and anger because of the shock when hundreds of people die in one instance, people resort to continuously and obsessively following the news in the hope that answers will be provided. With these answers, the nation’s sorrow is given, in colloquial terms, a ‘space’ in the hearts or minds of the people by accepting the facts and moving forward. The second object of analysis, the Las Vegas shooting, is the deadliest mass shooting in the United States by an individual, during which a gunman fired into a crowd of concert goers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on October first, 2017. Both the gunman and the concert were located on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, which left 851 people injured and 58 people dead. The gunman, Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada was 64 years old when he fired 1,100 rounds into the concert crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. He was found and pronounced dead at his hotel room one hour after the shooting had stopped, by a self-inflicted gunshot wound which made it impossible to know what his motives were for this horrible crime. This event re-sparked debates about the gun laws in the USA and it can be argued that shootings in general have become an important part of the American national identity because of their frequency. Community-based trauma’s tend to receive much more media coverage and the news of this horrific event spread quickly across multiple media outlets that are used daily Both events had a very significant impact on not only the countries directly affected, as it caused worldwide shock, but also emotional outpour and sparking many debates. The flight resulted in such turmoil and unrest in The Netherlands that to this day, Dutch talk shows such as De Wereld Draait Door, RTL Late Night and Jinek discuss the event whenever new information is released or to commemorate. In contrast to the Dutch media, the Las Vegas shooting received a lot of attention that following day and night with many talk show programs in the USA addressing the shocking event. Late night talk show hosts such as Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden, Stephen Colbert amongst many others spoke about the shooting in their opening monologues. This thesis will ultimately portray similarities and/or distinctions between the two

events, and it would be interesting for future research to compare the two nations and their response to disaster and potentially traumatic events through the use of media. This thesis will proceed to look further into disaster news and talk shows under the umbrella term ‘entertainment news’ in chapter two. Followed by two theoretical frameworks, framing and affect, that will be used to understand the concepts of trauma and memory. The chapter will end by relating these theories and concepts to therapy news within the context of talk shows. In chapter three the focus will lie on applying the discussed frameworks to three fragments from talk shows in relation to flight MH17, and two fragments from talk shows in relation to the Las Vegas shooting.

Chapter 2: Framing, affect and trauma in talk shows

In this chapter theoretical frameworks from secondary and tertiary sources on framing and affect will be explored in order to link understand their applicability within the entertainment news sector. The notions they share with trauma and therapy are looked at in depth in relation to talk shows, providing a better understanding for the following analysis chapter.

Entertainment news

The increase in fragmenting the media environment has led to many people tuning out from the news and current affairs (Boukes, Boomgaarden,). It has become common for people to avoid ‘hard news’ which are distributed by conventional media outlets such as news channels, instead turning towards entertainment programs who act as new information sources such as websites like Reddit, Facebook or other television programs like talk shows. In an article by Boukes and Boomgaarden, they quote a paper written by Baum and Jamison from 2006, that “[w]hen political information is packaged as entertainment, however, even those not interested in politics may tune in, and thereby unintentionally learn about politics or participate in public debate. This shows that the supposed line between entertainment and traditional news programs have become blurry, both in regards to the content and their role in society (Qtd in. Boukes, Boomgaarden, 1146).

2.1 Disaster media coverage

Disaster media is a specific type of news that is spectacularized because of its extreme nature, and always has the priority to reveal the horrific event, pass on known facts and what is

happening that minute. Disaster coverage is generally emotional by nature, and can focus on the emotions displayed by individuals that are affected by the tragedy, or the collective emotions of a bigger community that is reacting to the sadness and misfortune of those around them (Pantti, Wahl-Jorgensen, 5). However, disasters have become the norm in contemporary news media (Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 5), and news channels are always trying to find new ways to frame them in a more shocking way, in order to get the viewer's attention. Disasters and tragedies, especially those that are violent and on a global-scale with extensive video footage, have become a form of entertainment because of their shocking imagery and shock value. Due to technological advancement with mobile telephones and their cameras, as well as the continuous access to social media and the internet, information, images and sounds circulate much quicker and on a more personal level than the traditional officially formatted forms of news coverage. Videos filmed at the scene by the public with their personal phone cameras, circulate on social media platforms more often, and are also now broadcasted by official television news channels to show a more personalized approach. It is now common for there to be heightened affectivity because of “contemporary social production of media from zones of disaster” and the increase in ‘raw’ footage (McCosker). However, even raw videos cannot be entirely unframed or unedited because of the most basic cinematic features such as the maker’s choice of shot, focus, duration and amongst other components. Rawness is now commonly related to the term ‘authenticity’ which adds a form of spectacle, not only to unedited videos but also to “Twitter traffic, Facebook comments and other networked modes of expression and exchange” (McCosker). News and other media forms which report on disasters circulating raw content have taken a much more personalized approach, instead of the formatted and official forms of news coverage. It has also been shown that television programs thrive with on-demand, social distribution and mobile video viewing (Nielson & Sambrook). Therefore to maintain relevance, many shows have adopted new formats and accepted the rise in online video. Globalisation, social media and access to international television has also caused for local news to increasingly become international news that can cause more distress around the world. According to McCosker “this flow of affective visual access occurs increasingly outside the control of mainstream media institutions” and adds importance to normally locally contained events. During times of disaster, 24/7 news can be difficult to turn off because of the intrinsic need for new information. Pfefferbaum et al, mentions that disaster media consumption to some viewers cause heightened reactions, and that “those who are distressed may be drawn to media coverage to obtain information or to maintain a heightened emotional state associated with arousal”.

2.2 Talk shows

A talk show, or also known as a chat show, is one of the most popular forms of entertainment news in our current media landscape. It is a television program on which one or more people discuss a variety of topics that are introduced by the talk show host. Interestingly, talk shows are not a new concept, and have been broadcast on television since the beginning of the medium. It even predates television as it derives from the radio, where there was more ‘talk’ than ‘show’ initially, but it was of great influence to the shows we know today (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 127). During the 1990s there was a spike in what are called “tabloid” talk shows, which have not quite survived and have instead been replaced by what is now more common as “interview” or “lifestyle TV” formats. Today there are many different types of talk shows, although generally it is common for talk shows to have guests, one or more people who are related to, professionally experienced, or knowledgeable about the topic that is discussed that day. Talk shows that are of a more serious nature with conversations often about politics and that are discussion oriented which resembles traditional news more, need hosts that do not show their bias or personality as much. The host is rarely funny, helping political and social issues come to the forefront in a serious manner (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 127). At the opposite end, the entertainment format refers to the tradition of variety shows; these are full of sarcastic monologues and jokes made by the host, as well as funny sketches, musical performances and guests that are predominantly comedians or entertainment stars. The hosts show sympathy and antipathy which generally reflects the feelings of the viewers (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 128). Lastly, there is also a significant portion of talk shows that are a hybrid, in which they mix serious issues and journalism “with unrefined entertainment, politics, public issues, and social problems with humour, scandal and sensation” (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 128). Popular shows that follow this type of format include(d) those hosted by Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer, and now Ellen Degeneres. The areas covered by these shows are selected and presented in a very specific manner of attractiveness — “a sense of sensation and scandal, entering areas of human privacy and intimacy, psychological exposure, humor, caricature, etc. Such programs almost always apply the case study method — a serious social problem is presented to the viewers and the audience at the studio through the experiences of an invited guest or guests” (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 129). The subgenres are generally allocated to a specific programming block during the broadcast day and also have significantly different formats even though the topics discussed can overlap. These blocks include: the breakfast chat shows that show a lot of news summaries and political coverage, but also celebrity interviews, to late morning and daytime shows that focus

more on entertainment, lifestyle features as well as self-help programs that include therapists or medical advice for varying issues. During the evening time shows focus on the news and politics, and the late-night talk shows often feature celebrity guests who are promoting their latest ventures and projects to the public. There are also Sunday morning talk shows that are specifically a staple in North American network programming, and these focus more on politics, inviting political figures or candidates as well as journalists to the show. After shows, spoof talk shows, sports or economics related shows can also be popular discussion programs. These formats all vary depending on the country, as well as certain daytime shows might appear during the night time in other parts of the world or afternoon programs having a similar structure to a late night show. Late night talk shows are also substantially more significant in the United States, with shows featuring hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, James Corden and more that are known and watched worldwide. Whereas in Britain, breakfast shows are very popular. Due to their popularity and its sensational nature, there is an increase in people learning about the news through this unconventional way, and is one of the reasons why these shows have become an important part of the public sphere and modern society as a whole. The public sphere is a concept understood as a space of communication where public discourse can take place and that results in the shaping of public opinion (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 125). Thornborrow also writes that they have become a major place for the discussion of public opinion on a great range of issues “from individual, personal dilemmas and family relationships, to broader social problems and concerns. Whatever the topic, it has been claimed that the voice of lay participants in these shows is generally prioritised over the voice of experts and professionals” (1436). Many of these TV talk shows are by nature full of arguments and mediated disagreement that are staples in the world of spectacle through confrontation (Thornborrow, 1438). One thing that differentiates talk shows from other television programs is the seemingly spontaneous and improvised conversations or ‘live talk’ without a script. It is important to know that even though unplanned talking does happen, most of the statements made are highly structured (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 130). Scripts are a large part of the formatting technique used in almost all forms of media. However, the difference between traditional news and talk shows are not as big as one might think, as there is frequent blurring of the lines as talk shows incorporate much of the news into their content. Politicians showing their personalities and being interviewed similarly to celebrity guests makes them easier to relate to, whilst the audience simultaneously is being introduced to their political agenda. Popular and political culture are thus often mixed, which results in the news being presented in a more entertaining way, forming new cultures and opinions by watching these talk shows.

Framing theory

The framing theory is a tool that is applicable to all news formats and media outlets, as it is used to look at how narratives are formed and information is spread by the media. Firstly the framing theory is primarily the process of “selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation and/or solution” (Entman, Framing). Entman also wrote a book called The Black Image in the White Mind, in which he defines frames as a narrative having four elements:

“define problems – determine what a causal agent is doing with what costs and benefits, usually measured in terms of common cultural values; diagnose causes – identify the forces creating the problem; make moral judgments – evaluate causal agents and their effects; and suggest remedies – offer and justify treatments for the problems and predict their likely effects” (Entman, 49-50).

Secondly, Margot Kuttschreuter, writes that the framing theory does not only include the magnitude of coverage but also the content of the coverage. Therefore a second characteristic of framing is also known as frame-setting, which takes aspects from an issue and makes them more important through the modes of presentation (Scheufele). When covering any news story, in particular disasters, the media system will have to make a decision on the best way to frame the event (Kuttschreuter). There will be a central theme for the narrative, that emphasizes certain elements of the event (Birkland), and this central theme can range from: the causes, the treatment, or the definition of the problem (Entman, Framing). The journalists provide the context and give an interpretation of the social themes or problem surrounding the event (Barnhurst, Mutz). Thirdly, an important factor for media framing is the idea of repetition and consistency of the message, as these are thought to be built over time and across a range of sources (McCosker). An example of repetition or consistency would be journalistic remembrance through commemoration, an important point that comes back later in the analysis section of this thesis. Lastly, dominant societal structures, value systems and beliefs, relate and influence the frame significantly (Castells). The theory “has roots in the analysis of discourse and ideology” (McCosker). This suggests that framing only uses the existing power relationships in our society

in order to produce particular narratives. Stuart Hall for example, discussed “the consolidation of power through media control and manipulation of information” where he explored the relationship between the media and the government, as well as the audience (Dawisha, 4). Dawisha’s paper highlighted that news sources are trusted and seen as reliant because of the idea that only people with high-status positions have access to factual and accurately detailed information, and most of the population does not fall under this category (5). Hall argues here, that these types of news sources become the “primary definers of topics, and any backlash, disagreement or response would be just that – a response to the main framework that the primary definers of a topic have founded (Dawisha, 5). In relation to the case study of flight MH17, Joost Niemoller who wrote a blog on the reportings and framing of the national incident, said that he was surprised by the predisposed framing and reporting of the story and the lack of different viewpoints. Many of the bigger media corporations all chose a similar storyline, while his blog provided a different point of view. Not unlike many others who study media, he knows there is a western state of mind: a bias that fits the identity of a particular region/country, and fits the frame which has chosen for a particular news item. His book that he wrote and published in 2014 about the facts of the MH17 disaster, initially garnered a lot of attention by the Dutch media, until they realised it did not match their own ideas. Facts, depending on how they are framed, can function differently according to Jill Edy (Qtd in. Simonetti, 26). Everyone retreated with the same argument: his story was not actual. Translated from Dutch, he said that he became more aware “that as an independent journalist I can only be part of one story, one frame, as it is so disgustingly called today” (Joost Niemoller).

Affect theory

The affect theory is commonly studied amongst many academic fields because of its applicability to different interpretations. However, this openness to opinions has also made it difficult to subject it to a more set definition. Starting with Raymond Williams, who thought of affect as the “structures of feeling” (Ribera, 9). He begins his essay describing that culture and society are usually “expressed in an habitual past tense” and that “[t]he strongest barrier to the recognition of human cultural activity is this immediate and regular conversion of experience into finished products” (Williams, 128). The meaning of history and assumptions of actions are projected onto not only the past but also contemporary life ranging from relationships to

institutions (128). The finished products such as a film, or in the case of this thesis, a framed news story, will “complete their inherent process” by making them “present, in specifically active readings” (129). He goes on to say that these finished products are never done with this formative process as they can only be analysed in a specific present. This in particular relates the cultural norms and belief systems in place surrounding that specific product, and also how the person interpreting the product will always be of influence to the active reading. This idea can be related to the news and any form of visual or textual representation that is shared, especially through big platforms or mediums. Secondly, Gregg and Seigworth explained affect to be “an impingement or extrusion of a momentary or sometimes more sustained state of relation as well as the passage (and the duration of passage) of forces or intensities” that pass or move between the human and nonhuman (Qtd in. Ribera, 10). Adding to the idea of a relation, another source said that affect is the energy that creates the relation between physical body and the world (Cifor, 8). Cifor also mentions that “[i]t is at the core of how we form, sustain and break social relations, differences and individual and collective identities”(8). This in particular matches how a nation comes together after a disaster and become more aware of one another, to work together on a solution if possible so that something so horrendous will never happen again. It is the building of a collective identity, one event that has affected everyone in different ways but that binds everyone together. Ann Cvetkovich also came up with her own definition, being inspired by the Deleuzian interpretation that describes affect as a “force, intensity, or the capacity to move and be moved,” and using this to create her own interpretation as “a generic sense... as a category that encompasses affect, emotion, and feeling, and that includes impulses, desires, and feelings that get historically constructed in a range of ways (whether as distinct specific emotions or as a generic category often contrasted with reason)” (Qtd in. Ribera, 10).

4.1 Affect of imagery

In relation to the aforementioned framing theory, sensationalist reporting is framed in such a way that the desired outcome is shared affectivity. When communicating suffering, visualization is commonly considered a vital instrument (Höijer). Any filmic experience includes “the portrayal of the lives of other human beings in such a fashion that viewers are invited to share their cognition, emotions, goals, situations, and social environments” which is an important note (Grodal, et al. 19). Important to acknowledge is the relatively logical idea that different forms of art that are either visual, textual, or sonic, produce various kinds of effects on the senses because of different spatial arrangements, movement or sound. Visuals arouse more

emotions that affect the message processing, also meaning that stories accompanied by an image will most likely be remembered longer. For example, news footage and visual aids are processed differently than the same content that is communicated through just words (Pfau et al. 304). This is because there is a quicker affective response to pictures than to words because the right brain, which is the emotional side, processes visual content more than the left (Pfau et al. 305). Pfau et al. also mention that “[w]hen audio and visual messages are dissonant viewers may overload their limited available cognitive resources while processing the messages; when this happens, it is audio processing, not video, that suffers” (qtd. In fox and colleagues, 105). In this case the video will be remembered and not the audio. As a result of the emotion that images and videos bring forth, it can “make audiences care about an issue and the people involved in it” (Graber 76). Audio and visual are tools to help create a better sense of ‘actuality’ which is shown by the development of news channels. People place greater trust in the images that they can see with their own eyes, hear the sounds with their own ears, making those news stories more believable. Every industry that uses visual aids uses this to their advantage to hopefully get “automatic, unreflective trust in the branded product” (Warner, 18). Even though many people see “visuals as true representations” there is a lot of “evidence that visual content can be manipulated” (Pfau et al. 306). What also has to be realised is that the moving images and situation “in front of the camera or coming out of the screen are not glimpses of reality, but of actuality” (R. Beliveau). While on the one hand McCosker agrees that visual aids can function as “affective tools for the production and circulation of affect”, he also says “that it is sometimes what is not shown that carries the greatest affect”. Höijer did a qualitative study of ‘compassion’ in mediated suffering, in which was concluded that it was consistently reported that for the respondents impressions of suffering, images were of high importance. Höijer mentions the Kosovo war as an example with television news, a respondent said that “It was what I saw of live pictures on television that made the strongest impression, all the innocent people, all those who cried’ (qtd. McCosker). It was not the mass graves, or the fact that it was a senseless massacre, but rather the emotion of the refugees that were affective. McCosker notes that this type of affect is “not necessarily a form of identification with the subject as victim, but rather an encounter with a ‘genre’ of tragic image resulting in a particular set of lasting effects that we designate as compassion”. The relational capacity of the media is important when looking at the diversity of forms and expressions, as well as modes of encounter. Massumi’s point in his article called The Autonomy of Affect, is that a subjective viewpoint lies in “both the autonomic nature of the corporeal, synaesthetic response and its ability to vitalise matter or persist beyond the scope of a perceiving subjective point of view”. An image in which pain is portrayed, such as the shocking

photograph of the Syrian boy who had drowned on his way to the Greek island Kos by Reuters, can take on it’s own life and carry around a sense of intense traumatic force. However, there are variations of cases of affect, and seeing someone else’s pain according to McCosker sees affect remain at a virtual level as a form of empathy and action is never actualized (qtd. Colebrook, 54). He goes on to say that “[a]ffect here designates the body's ability to suffer, to hurt in specific ways, its vulnerability to elements and forces of nature; it inheres within the body's ability to be affected or moved by the sight of suffering, and its capacity to react in any number of ways”. Massumi on the other hand, theorizes affect by relating it to inaccessible remainders, because “the meaning-making aspects of an image” are its “quality” and “the strength or duration of the image's effect" he calls "intensity" (84). The theory of affect also combines the actual experience, such as Williams puts it with the cultural politics of these feelings. The aesthetic shape of cultural representations shows that feeling and form from the aesthetic is embedded in sensation.

4.2 Affect in the news

The news has become increasingly a performance of sincerity and authenticity, instead of an objective representation of reality. Aesthetics is the sensory experience of perception, and has it has undergone a reversal of meaning, starting with being seen as reality and not art, to now being known as a spectacle. The way the news benefits from anaesthetics is that it implies rationality and controlled content that shows the audience they are authentic and truthful, therefore ensuing trust and loyalty. However, the news is a place where the relation between it’s aesthetics and anaesthetics become blurry, because of this dialectical reversal from “a cognitive mode of being ‘in touch’ with reality to a way of blocking out reality”. Aesthetics “destroys the human organism’s power to respond politically even when self-preservation is at stake: Someone who is "past experiencing" is "no longer capable of telling...proven friend...from mortal enemy” (Buck-Morss, 18). Aesthetics relates to cultural norms and tastes (Buck-Morss, 6), and is used as a political and emotional tool: “the aesthetic is in any case conceived as a kind of safety valve for irrational impulses” (Buck-Morss, 7). It is also seen as having female characteristics because the rise of emotions clouds meaning past the surface level. Aesthetics techniques are used because they want to stand out amongst the overload in messages through a variety of different mediums such as television and social media. They need to make memorable and shocking content that grabs viewers attention and keeps them watching their channel or grabbing their newspaper instead of the competition. However, aesthetics, and an abundance of it, can desensitize the

consumer which is supposed to result in a logical and decreased emotional opinion. She says that “the cognitive system of synaesthetics has become, rather, one of anaesthetics” because its main focus is to “numb the organism, [...] to repress memory” (18). People have become desensitized to headlines and breaking news segments because of the constant flow of images and news that is available 24/7. New channels have become infested with “on-screen news digests and flashy graphics” (Cushion, 63/64), which does attract viewers, but discourages sustained viewing. Emphasized by McCosker, the images and information the public gets to see from scenes of global disaster are strongly affected by those who were there, capturing events with their phones and posting them on social media which relays their experiences outside of the bigger institutions that put work into framing events. This way people have achieved a certain degree of autonomy from the planned and professional practices of journalistic framing. Digital and mobile media networks have reshaped global media immensely in recent years and this has resulted in the footage being less professional and more a “direct expression of personal experience, sensation and affect” (McCosker).

Trauma and Therapeutic discourse

5.1 Trauma

The term trauma, and in particular psychological trauma, causes some sort of damage to the mind that transpires from experiencing a severely distressing event that exceeds someone’s ability to cope with emotionally. These event(s) can be experienced over weeks, years or even decades as the individual or community struggles to cope with the circumstances that can lead to significantly long term consequences. For an event to become traumatic, based on Freud’s interpretation, it should not only overwhelm the mind’s capacity, but also be unanticipated, which causes true fright (Muntean, 52). As a result of the event being a surprise, three temporal periods are established: Firstly, “the pre-event state of unpreparedness, marked by an absence of anxiety” (52). Secondly “the traumatic event itself, in which temporal orientations are ruptured and confused; and [thirdly] the posttraumatic state, in which dreams and memories of the traumatic event haunt the traumatized sufferer” (52). Trauma can be experienced individually, individually in context of a community and lastly communities as a whole can also be traumatically affected. The concern with the trauma that has been suffered by an individual victim can also be extended beyond them, as “[t]he concept of the indirect victim allows for a tremendous inflation of the numbers who are entitled to claim such support” (Get off the couch). Traumatic suffering is usually initiated by a single event, causing the traumatized subject to carry the trauma as a condition with them in the present. A traumatic memory does

not necessarily need to be the same for everyone, as experiences, states of mind and forms of recovery vary from person to person (Muntean, 53). The community surrounding individual trauma can be defined as: “geographically as in neighborhoods; virtually as in a shared identity, ethnicity, or experience; or organizationally, as in a place of work, learning, or worship”. It is important for the community to help facilitate healing by showing understanding and support the individual(s), as their response sets the foundation of the impact and effect. National trauma is similar but the effects of trauma are applicable to more members of a country or collective group that can potentially wound, change or influence a national identity. This is because a nation as a whole is represented by its culture, traditions, language and politics and when a large group of people is affected by an incident, this may create a ripple affect into other areas of their society (National identity). Communities as a whole can collectively react by becoming fearful, hyper-vigilant, re-traumatized, and triggered by other circumstances that are similar to the earlier trauma. Communities are often shaped by historical trauma, which is also known as intergenerational trauma by it being built into cultural norms, meaning it is equally as important for the community to heal by talking about it publicly (Trauma definition). By talking constantly about a tragedy or specific event by commemorating it every year, it keeps the social memory alive in a community. As a community relives the same event over and over again it becomes an integral part of their identity. Paul Connerton wrote that “we may note that images of the past commonly legitimate a present social order", and that many times an individual traumatic experience is a shared concern, “not only to ensure the [social order’s] present maintenance, but also to maintain vigilance against potential future catastrophes (Qtd in. Muntean, 53). What is interesting is that a traumatic event does not need to be experienced first hand, but can also affect people who are watching it unfold over television.This is because of the way that news stories are framed and made to engage the audience, viewers can experience it not just as spectators, but in its most totalizing form (Muntean, 56). This type of trauma can be categorized as collective trauma. Watching news images that represent shock and disbelief as result of a public trauma, still “pulls up short of fully engaging the cultural processes at work. For it is in radically contextual, embodied, expressive enactments—from public performances of mourning and religious reflection to performances[...]—that collective trauma registers and healing occurs” (Coonfield, Huxford). Such enactments are also seen by Coonfield and Huxford as performances in which a national identity is grounded, after which the nation can move towards healing. Images serve as a cultural epicenter of that day’s tragedy, but actions produce a set of symbols that are more visible which show the range of influences that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

5.2 Memory

According to Slavoj Zizek it is not only about remembering or forgetting the memories or the trauma, as he says that “traumas we are not ready or able to remember haunt us all the more forcefully. We should therefore accept the paradox that, in order to really forget an event, we must first summon up the strength to remember it properly” (Qtd in Muntean, 53). Working through and acting out, two concepts related to memory and trauma explored in an interview with an American historian Dominick La Capra, can help the individual or community heal. According to La Capra, one works through a memory or fact when looking at it from a distance to allow for critically analysation of that memory. A distinguished difference between past, present and future needs to be established for a traumatised victim and working through their memories helps them do this. Acting out on the other hand, is the process of repeating the past, reliving it and it playing a big role in the present, “to exist in the present as if they were still fully in the past, with no distance from it” (La Capra). He also relates the two concepts to historic research, by saying that you would not initially associate it to personal memory, but that both require fact checking, gathering information and constructing a past which is accurate. Memory is therefore not just an alternative to history, instead it can be therapeutic because of its healing qualities when being shared (Kaya, 686). It is the prioritizing of memory and talking about the trauma instead of staying silent and privatizing the trauma. In an essay by Eunah Lee on the excess of trauma and the aesthetics of affect, Lee affirms that affect can be transferred through visually shocking scenes and narratives. Park used the collective memories of trauma that were generated by Korea’s modern nation-building and the affect of this trauma was transmitted through her images of violence and heightened emotional scenes. This repetition of showing the traumatic experiences were a way of working through and acting out, for both the filmmaker as well as the nation. Shocking images, according to Jill Bennett, that are watched under controlled conditions elicit an immediate affective response that “mimic[s] the sudden impact of trauma, or the quality of a post-traumatic memory, characterized by the involuntary repetition of the experience that the mind fails to process in the normal way" (10-11). Importantly, the knowledge of a particular event and trauma can cause fear and anxiety about potentially experiencing something similar or it happening again (Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 12), in which case this panic needs to be solved in order to maintain control over a society. The media can for example provide details on where to find counselling, or by spreading awareness and working through the event by talking about it can have a therapeutic effect.

5.3 Therapy and talk shows Traumatic storytelling and the therapeutic imaginary can also be called the “post-conflict therapeutic framework” with the underlying premise being that: “repressed memory causes untold and ongoing psychological problems; that ‘revealing’ or truth-telling leads to healing; and that ‘closure’ on the past must be reached in order for the present to be lived and the future to be faced” (Kaya, 686). Narratives of trauma often times are the star of the talk show so to speak, because it is a “powerful identity narrative that provides a “centre” to the self by stitching together past and present in a narrative of self-knowledge” and it embodies “modern tragic narratives of the suffering self the culture of recovery has contributed to a … deep narrativization of the self through suffering” (Qtd in. Luckhurst, 134). The framing of any trauma in the media takes powerful cultural signals, as Furedi explains, and provides viewers “with ready-made therapeutic explanations of their troubles” (qtd in. Get off that couch). In an article by Pantti and Wahl-Jorgensen, they noted that in earlier work done by Pantti and Wieten (2005), “extraordinary tragic events are typically represented as integrative events, moments of national consensus and unity born out of mourning together” (5). A concept called the Western “therapy culture” by Frank Furedi, mentions the breaking down of boundaries between the public and the private, because single emotions and experiences have become groundbreakingly significant in public life. There is a new popular culture phenomenon in which we need to share everything, even other people’s pain. According to Furedi in this day and age, the expression of emotions have become much safer and depoliticized which has contributed to the replacing of informative and fact-based news reporting with emotional indulgence and sentimentalism (Pantti, Wahl-Jorgensen, 3). This display of emotions importantly does not seem to threaten the political and social stability of a nation, according to Furedi. Talk shows have become an important way of reaching citizens, as they are often based on emotions and opinions rather than on facts and observations. They also tend not to be based “on content-related discourse, but on entertainment and scandal. The consequence of applying such values and the relevant aesthetics is a shift from public (social, political or cultural) discourse to private, or even intimate issues of public people” (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 134). This shift from public to private has resulted in offering viewers the experience of “therapeutic thrill” (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 134), relating the talk shows to being a form of voyeurism into the lives and problems of others. Voyeurism satisfies the human need to spy, which has been theorized and talked about in the film and television industry extensively, by

people such as Godzic. According to him cinematic voyeurism is different to the situation of the talk-show as a television genre. However, he goes on to say that:

If the instinct to spy on and eavesdrop people in intimate situations in the case of a cinema viewer meant psychological safety, a certain cocoon separating him from the consequences of real spying, the viewer of a TV show is rather placed in a “social viewing situation”. Therefore, [a] TV viewer is a voyeur, yet a voyeur who is talked to and about (direct addresses, gestures, “what do our viewers think about it?”), is no longer safe and becomes much more submerged in the social dimension. (Qtd in. Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 134)

This social dimension he mentions, immerses the viewer and this creates more emotional engagement as often times the emotions presented in the episode are passed onto the viewer(s) by the means of affect. Talk shows allow for a lot of participation, especially with the second screen concept applied to this statement, for example viewers being able to call into the studio and voice their opinion or enter a discussion with those around them. As a result of framing and emotional outpour from viewers, empathy is one of the feeling that is a desired outcome for filmmakers, as it is the ability to “understand and share the feelings of another” and also “the ability to view the world from another person’s perspective combined with an emotional reaction to that perspective, including feelings of concern for others” (Schutte, Stilinović, 708). Empathy also connects societies on a deeper level through the use of affect. Empathetic engagement can occur when imagination is used or through perceptual cues of action and affective resonance (Grodal, et al. 27). There are people who do not show equal dispositions of empathy however, which means that people react to the news or any other imagery differently. As an entertainment or news channel to keep on receiving that same connection with the audience, new ways have to be developed in order to maintain a certain shock value that adds to the level of spectacle. For this reason, talks shows have adopted “modes of interrogation and aesthetic representation that [drive] to explore personal trauma as well as history and memory” (Biressi, 401). According to an article by Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, therapy news comforts the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable, which they say is also a journalists job. Journalists produce emotions of both the victims and of themselves, which are then placed in storylines using wider cultural narratives. They do so by representing ordinary people’s pain and hardships, by confronting the government and calling them to account, as well as “strengthening communities and creating

solidarity” (6). Disaster media coverage often times gives “ordinary people” a voice through which “the subjects of trauma and therapy are grouped into three categories: “victims,” “perpetrators,” and “witnesses” (Kaya, 692). The tragic event is condensed and represented in the media by it’s framing, “through the selection of images, narratives, expositions and analyses”, which result in the production of different classes such as ‘deserved’ and ‘undeserved’ victims. The forgiveness between victims and perpetrators, the distribution of guilt, can be an emotional and moral exchange also known as the “economy of reconciliation”, and as Kaya explains it “redefines national identity in terms of trauma, healing, and forgiveness, and posits the nation as a collective self willing and able to make peace with its traumatic past” (687). According to Chouliaraki this also intensifies the power given to the construction of national identity, as well as the production of pity in varying degrees. Pantti and Wahl-Jorgensen mentioned British journalist Tessa Mayes who said that: Today reporters are providing Therapy News Unlike the past, … contemporary news reports are swamped in emotion as if reporting and analysing feelings are the reporter’s chief purpose. As a result, victims are granted expert status the new therapeutic approach is allowing victims to … be less criticised and more counselled by the media Therapy News offers an … over-indulgent feast of feeling, re-playing individuals’ emotions back to us as if we all feel the same way.

John Langer wrote that “[v]ictims become more authentically sympathetic and worthy of our ‘reflex of tears’ when an ordinary person located in the real world, rather than someone from the potentially manipulative world of professional newsmakers, can guarantee the details of misfortune” (87). People that are not celebrities or politicians, thus deemed ordinary people, primarily appear in the news when they have become victims of a crime or natural disaster (Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 5). Rothe in her book on trauma in popular culture defined this as being “victim talk” which according to her should assure audiences that even when a crime is so heinous, or a natural disaster is so destructive, good always beats evil and “it thereby conveys “the message that teary-eyed sentimentality constitutes an adequate and sufficient reaction” to suffering while simultaneously depicting it as heroic and redemptive” (Ball, 89). This is one of the reasons why news channels, but also documentaries for example, use interviews with witnesses and real people that viewers at home can related to because it creates a higher level of engagement. This then joins journalism and the coverage of tragedies to constructing “a news of feeling as well as fact” (Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 6), that can be linked to the affect theory and

the Structure of Feelings text by Raymond Williams. The show uses the guests vulnerabilities and pushes them towards an emotional collapse that will provide them ‘the money-shot’ that will essentially both entertain and help those in the audience and viewers. These conversations are expertly steered by the host, by using showing their ability to understand the suffering. The host is always engineered to have a certain identity, and to create a “sense of intimacy with her[/his] mass audience positions her[/him] as ‘structured to reinforce the feeling of close proximity to the real and the familial” (Luckhurst, 133). Ellen Degeneres, for example, has used her wealth, celebrity and cultural influence to help many in need by setting up charities or donating money on her show, and is generally known for being very giving. She has essentially ‘taken over’ Oprah Winfrey’s job who embodied “the therapeutic narrative behind all her enterprises” (Luckhurst, 133). As a confession is produced, the guest is then rewarded with either a donation or the announcement of taking those essential first steps towards recovery and self-empowerment. There might be a process of accusation, by naming the perpetrator, which is an important part of the therapeutic discourse (Biressi, 401).

Chapter 3: Analysis

In this chapter I aim to use the information shown in the previous chapter to understand the concepts in a more concrete manner by applying them to the case studies, MH17 and the Las Vegas shooting. Looking at various fragments of talk shows in which the events are discussed, the theories are applied in order to analyse and find explanations for my findings. As I have observed, disaster reporting is an intensive form of communication and is thus associated with high levels of emotions which is appealing to a community in response to the tragedy (McCosker). For both MH17 and the Las Vegas shooting, there was an obvious communal grieving process and each nation came together to react to the horrific event. Importantly “[d]isasters make emotions prominent because they involve reportorial practices outside of ordinary structural routines” (Pantti, Wahl-Jorgensen, 5). Combined with political empowerment, the representation of regular people’s problems and grief are linked to strengthen the feeling of unity and community, which really add the emotional charge (Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 6, 10). Constructing a general mood and drawing attention to the national character of the disaster are shown through the awaited responses of the elite and the government, such as article titles stating: “Geschokte reacties wereldleiders op vliegramp”, which translated from Dutch means: “World Leaders shocked at flight disaster”. Often times humans look towards each other for support, especially world leaders and the elite, as they are an essential part of the national identity.

6.1 Narrative surrounding MH17

The framing surrounding the tragedy of MH17 is a story that has not yet been fully written by the Dutch because there has been an ongoing investigation that has taken now up to nearly four years. The day of the crash, many popular talk shows had gone on summer hiatus, resulting in no direct talk show responses. However, there was high media coverage of the incident through news articles and the NOS, which is the national public broadcasting news channel. The event was, for obvious reasons, not experienced first hand by many people and therefore experienced through watching the unfolding of information and news stories on television as spectators. Extremely early on did the Dutch media draw conclusions not based on hard facts but rather intuition and suspicion. As explained in the theory chapter, Entman wrote about four aspects of framing, as well as three temporal periods, in order to establishing an event as a trauma. There must firstly be a pre-event state of unpreparedness, which in the case of MH17 was extremely true, which causes true fright. Aviation is one of the safest ways of traveling, and no one could have imagined this to happen. The second temporal period is the event itself, and thirdly the post traumatic state of the country is acknowledged as they react as a community. Within the third temporal state, the first aspect of framing is to define the problem, which was the crash. Followed by a diagnosis of a possible cause, which the Dutch very quickly established was a rocket that either misfired or was fired on purpose and hit a passenger carrier flight. The cost of this loss of life was seen as enormous, as most passengers were of Dutch nationality and most were on their way to a fantastic holiday. This caused a lot of moral judgement on the perpetrators, who were assumed to be the Russians, and a lot of questions arose about why innocent people were targeted. Only on the 25th of May 2018 did the international investigators led by the Dutch confirm that indeed it was a Russian missile that hit the airplane on its way to Malaysia (“Russia 'Liable' For Downing MH17 Airliner”). Lastly Entman suggests that the last aspect of framing is the suggestions of remedies and treatment, and The Dutch government decided to help their grieving nation work through this disaster by calling out that the 23rd of July 2014 was to be a national day of mourning ("Woensdag 23 Juli Dag Van Nationale Rouw"). There was also an order to hang all Dutch flags half-mast that day, and on this day the first victims were brought back to The Netherlands by plane, arriving in the city Eindhoven in the presence of the King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. The Dutch prime minister Rutte and many other members of the cabinet, as well as international officials were present ("Nederland Staat Stil, Eerste Slachtoffers MH17 In Nederland"). There was a minute of silence and thousands of people flocked to the highway, that

was closed off to normal transportation, where they stood and watched the first 40 hearses drive by to show their support.

Fig. 1: The procession of hearses from Eindhoven to Hilversum with victims of MH17 © reuters

It is important to introduce figure 1 as this will be a reference point in the following fragments, and is one of the images that, as mentioned earlier in this thesis, became incredibly popular around The Netherlands. It is still frequently used when talking about the flight on television or in articles. The photographs taken of the grieving people, and the hearses, portrayed a lot of pain. The images took on their own life by becoming symbols of representation of an intense traumatic time in Dutch history. The reason that these images are still used so frequently is because the Dutch media wants to remind viewers of their sharedness in this tragedy, as visualization is a vital instrument when communicating suffering in sensationalist reporting. Being affected by the visual is what allows the body to suffer and hurt in specific ways because it “it inheres within the body's ability to be affected or moved by the sight of suffering, and its capacity to react in any number of ways” (McCosker). What is interesting is that it has been found that widespread media coverage of a disaster and the repetition of images displayed may cause ‘emotional contagion’ which is when the negative impact is unintentionally spread (Holman). On the one hand continuing to talk about, and showing images and interviewing relatives of the victims can ‘reopen’ closed wounds, it is also

seen as a way of recovery, and with the ongoing investigation people are still interested in the answers even if they are uncovered years later. Muntean mentioned that in order to really forget an event and move on, strength must be summoned up to remember it properly because traumas that people are not ready or able to remember, can haunt them more intensely (53). Remembering, listening and discussing publicly through popular talk shows can help the collective trauma that The Netherlands has endured, to further the healing process. Coonfield emphasizes the idea that public performances of mourning and reflection to these will result in the registering of the trauma, or the accepting of it, after which healing occurs. He also says that watching news images that represent this public trauma does not fully help, as he says that actions need to be undertaken in order for the cultural processes to fully be at work. These enactments are a form of publicly performing mourning, which is registered as an act of national identity and as being symbols more visible than influences that can go unnoticed. The actions of standing next to that highway, dropping the flag to half-mast or watching the procession on television was what started the healing process for The Netherlands as a nation. Lastly according to Luckhurst, “traumatized identities become privileged sites of communality, yet they need to be compulsively restaged because there are no longer any theoretical means to process trauma. Trauma needs to be re-presented, over and over (Luckhurst, 131). This shows that the re-presentation of MH17 throughout multiple episodes on different talk shows, news channels, articles and more are needed in order to establish the trauma and work through it to understand it. As a result of this re-presenting, it becomes clear that to this day people still want to learn more about the tragedy. This is proven by the fact that various television talk shows such as De Wereld Draait Door continuously reopen discussion on the topic. For example in episodes on the 13th of October 2015, 4th of January 2016 and the 24th of February of 2016. RTL Late Night, also continuous to invite guests, such as family and loved ones of those who have passed away, or experts, whenever more information has come up within the news about the crash. Their episodes aired on the 12th of November 2015, July 13th, 2016, July 17th 2017. This consistency and repetition of the same, perhaps slightly altered message by light of new information found, is called frame setting. The central theme tends not to change, and frame setting keeps the message and memory alive, in order to keep talking about it which helps healing occur.

6.1.1 I am no longer anybody’s daughter, I am no longer anybody’s sister

The first fragment is called “Ik ben niemands dochter meer, ik ben niemands zus meer” (I am no longer anybody's daughter, I am no longer anybody’s sister), which aired on RTL Summer Late Night in July 2017, exactly three years after the fatal incident. The topics discussed

on this show are generally selected and presented in a very attractive way, as “a sense of sensation and scandal, entering areas of human privacy and intimacy, psychological exposure, humor, caricature, etc” (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 129). The table that the guests sit around generally helps to facilitate discussion, almost as ‘a round table event’ would. The audience is placed around the table in a circular setting, to help with engagement and there were multiple guests of various backgrounds present for different reasons. However, in this fragment of the episode, the topic of discussion was MH17, and surprisingly the crash was not introduced with background information or a reel of visuals edited together to help the audience remember. I believe the story did not need an introduction as it is assumed that almost everyone that is of the Dutch nationality will know what happened. The topic of the crash has far subsceded the private sphere because of the large scale of media attention, as well as the number of deaths that affected the Netherland directly, helps to open up dialogue with people that are situated even closer to the tragedy. The dialogue between the ‘victim’ and the ‘counselor’ also known as the host, was very prominent here as they immediately started the interview. The guest invited to speak on behalf of the relatives of victims, is called Katja Renkers, who lost both her parents and her brother in the crash. She was invited as she, among thousands of others had gathered earlier that day to remember the disaster and watch the unveiling of the National Monument in the name of MH17. The act of building a National Monument, and a public unveiling open to everyone is one of the ways that The Dutch were trying to support their community and create a strong sense of nationalism. Throughout the segment in which Katja is interviewed, the host of the show asks her about her feelings, for example about how she found out and what she thought about when she realized she had lost her entire family. She was asked who she was with, as well as how she managed to cope or move on. They used her vulnerabilities that would hopefully push her towards an emotional response that can provide them with ‘the money-shot’ for sensationalist entertainment purposes; whilst her answers might also be helping those in the audience and viewers at home. Katja is not just framed as being a regular girl, but genuinely is someone who could have been a viewers sister or friend. She was the unlucky one, whose family got taken away while they were going to go on holiday, and viewers become authentically more sympathetic and the victim is more worthy of ‘our reflex of tears’ when they detail their misfortune, as John Langer wrote (87). Later on in the interview, at mark 02m50s, the host asks her: That week, the Netherlands stood by that procession with tears in their eyes, do you remember that? To which she answered:

Yes, yes very well. I must very honestly say that in the beginning, we had been to Eindhoven and were driving back and we were not going to stand on the side at all. I saw everyone standing there and I thought “guys, please go home. What an exaggeration, what are you doing here? It is happening to us and not to you, so ” But I actually changed my mind about that very quickly, … so we went to stand on the side and saw all those people who were crying, and then I had the feeling of wow... it is incredibly awful what happened, but it does give kind of a connection. And I found that very beautiful, so I very much changed my thoughts about “please don’t”.

The host responded by saying “that is really nice and comforting to hear, because we all wanted to give that feeling”. This section of the interview is particularly interesting because both Katja and the host talk about the connection that was built as community and as a country, in order to support those that are directly affected. What is evident here is that they are linking her grief to strengthen the feeling of unity within The Netherlands (Pantti & Wahl-Jorgensen, 6, 10). There is are also strong cultural pressures on people to “acknowledge pain” and share this pain. When a nation is so strongly involved in the process of trauma and healing as with the MH17 incident, my perception is that the pressure is even more forceful because of the social need to help. As seen in figure two, during this section of her interview while explaining how she felt about people standing alongside the road, the same images of the procession of hearses at the airport in Eindhoven are shown on screens all around the studio. What is evident here is that they invited the live studio audience to experience the crash through the eyes of a relative from multiple victims of MH17. This relates to, as presented by Hutchby, that the talk show is a source of liveness because of the interaction between studio participants and the studio audience. There is a live studio audience during all of the episodes of RTL late night, and they have a ‘look in on’ the event, which is then also transmitted for wider public consumption (Hutchby, 183).

Fig. 2: RTL Summer Late Night interview Katja Renkers.

Fig. 3: Katja Renkers and international flags half mast at Eindhoven airport.

In figure three the images are inserted into the live broadcast for the viewers at home to see more clearly, while still showing Katja’s face, filming her reaction. The photograph with the Dutch flag in the front, alongside other flags flying at half mast firstly shows the acknowledgement of the crash not only being a national but international incident. Simultaneously Katja can be heard saying “I had the feeling of wow... it is incredibly awful what happened, but it does give kind of a connection” really emphasizes the desire from The Dutch media to remind people that shit experience is shared, and that everyone affected was not alone. The inclusion of this message alongside the imagery really enforces the idea that this event is not being told only as being Katja’s story, but also reminding everyone in the studio and

at home of their connection. Imagery invites an affective response as the images alongside words can result in a powerful connection to the image or the experiences it relays. Her answers are also very powerful, because it is clear that she has worked through her memories and trauma as she is looking at them from a distance to allow for a more critical analysation. She has made the distinguishment between the past, present and the future because she described how she felt, what she is feeling now and how she might feel in the future. As mentioned earlier in this thesis, narratives of trauma often times are the star of the talk show because they are a “powerful identity narrative that provides a “centre” to the self by stitching together past and present in a narrative of self-knowledge” (Luckhurst, 131). She remains calm throughout the interview, and it seems as though the host tries to get more of an emotional reaction from her, for example by saying he would be “so frustrated” with the speed and depth of the investigation. She answers with a shrug and the fact that in order for her to “move on” she had to give up her obsessiveness with the facts and trust the people who’s jobs it is to investigate what actually happened. On the other hand, perhaps reliving what happened to her in detail by answering who she was with and what she was doing, she could be acting out. This idea is enforced by the fact that she mentioned that in her daily life she is constantly confronted by the loss of her parents and brother, that her memories “are there, in everything that I do, all of the small things”, thus playing a big role in the present. Even as she thinks ahead to the future, she says that perhaps having a family of her own will be tainted by these dark memories and the fact she can never share her life with her family again. Confessions in public settings are often rewarded with public acceptance or even acclaim, which relieves the burden of responsibility. After having talked about her current life, how she got back up from the couch and out into the world again, she was encouraged by nice words and sympathetic glances from the audience which shows public acceptance of her trauma.

6.1.2 MH17-slachtoffer Karlijn krijgt postuum haar bul

In this episode, three months after the downing of airplane MH17, RTL Late Night invited Annebel Keijzer and her family to speak about the impact of Karlijn Keijzer’s death. Karlijn had been incredibly close to receiving her doctorates degree at the American University of Indiana, being only weeks amount of work away from earning her degree. Her professor had managed to arrange that she was still to receive her degree, presenting her with regalia that she worked so hard for and thanked the University of this wonderful gesture. Her sister Annebel was allowed to accept the diploma in her place, and said it was an incredibly emotional moment, saying “she is now Doctor Karlijn Keijzer, that means a lot to us”.

The way that this story is framed is different to that of Katja Renkers, as the segment begins with an introductory video reel involving a sequence of pictures and videos of the scene of the crash, as well as information about the two victims, Karlijn and her boyfriend. This selection of images and the narrative characterize the presented event in a very personal way. This results in the production of ‘underserved’ victims that were too young, and too full of life as most of the video for the most part shows photographs of the two separately or together, on holiday or during graduations. As mentioned by McCosker, digital and mobile media networks have also changed global media a lot in recent years, resulting in the footage being less professional and more a “direct expression of personal experience, sensation and affect” (McCosker). The edited sequence has the feel of a home video instead of a professionally edited sequence because of the amount of personal photos, and the use of this raw material shows the production of Karlijn’s memories.

Fig. 4: Karlijn and her boyfriend on holiday

The interview with Katja Renkers on the other hand had no introductory video, leading me to assume that such intimate and private information is no longer necessary three years after the crash, as the media has moved past the extremely personal towards the narrative of a national trauma. Closer to the time of the crash, the media presented many individual stories of the victims to get to know those who were on board as a result of national curiosity. Three years later, it seems that new stories released are aimed to be a communal reminder of the trauma and how it has defined the national identity in relation to moving forward. As mentioned in the previous chapter, something that differentiates talks shows from other programs on television is the ‘talk’ portion that is seemingly unscripted and live

(Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 130). Spontaneity and improvisation are two terms that are commonly used to describe talk shows and interviews with guests. Annebelle and the host, Humberto Tan, during this interview do not seem to closely be following a script. However, queue cards with questions, as well as premade video sequences guide the conversation into an established and desired narrative that the show wants to portray. The story of Karlijn’s life that her family, and the show are telling, clearly depict Karlijn as being extremely positive. She is praised highly for her work ethic, her spirit and her idealism in the world of medicine for trying to find an antiviral cure for HIV. This information is provided for the studio audience and the viewers at home to form a connection to a girl that was a stranger to most before this episode. The video that is shown of Karlijn’s professor who announces why she was special and deserves this degree, engages the viewer to become more emotionally affected as he gets emotional himself. His voice wavers for a second, and he speaks very fondly of her, saying he went “all the way up the ranks to the president” to ask for this favor. When look at framing, it also requires the questioning of who it is for, and with what purpose (Simonetti, 19). With this particular example the aesthetics such as the photographs and the videos, are used as an emotional tool, hoping for the rise of emotions clouding meaning past the surface level (Buck-Morss, 7). As Hoyer said, a filmic experience invites viewers to look at the portrayal of someone else’s life and “share their cognition, emotions, goals, situation and social environment”. This fragment of the episode is a ‘feel good’ story without much depth, about a girl who was presented with her degree, postmortem. Here her death as well as her achievement are sensationalized and used as entertainment. Pantti and Wahl-Jorgensen mentioned that ordinary people are empowered in and through their victimhood, rather than as citizens (22), and this is precisely what happens to Karlijn and Annebelle. This form of representation of regular people, their grief and their strength help to link the feeling of unity because of their normalcy and the viewers recognition of this, which therefore adds the emotional charge (Pantti,Wahl-Jorgensen, 6). The dialogue between Karlijn’s sister and Humberto Tan is also interesting to dissect. Firstly, when Humberto asks what it means for her and her family that it is now ‘Doctor Karlijn Keijzer’, Annebelle answers with: We always say “the Keijzer’s finish everything”, and that she managed to do just that is incredibly comforting. During this section the camera’s film their parents a lot, especially the mother of the two girls is shown wiping away her tears constantly. Although her parents are visibly upset, Annebelle seems very collected as she happily describes her sister and her answers suggest that she has accepted her sister’s fate and come to terms with moving on. Moving on does not mean forgotten however, as Annebelle also shows off her bracelet that she is wearing, on which is engraved “I will never forget you”. These bracelets were sold at one of the meetings with relatives, and her family bought several of them and distributed

the bracelets in both The Netherlands and the USA. Considering that public performances of mourning help to register trauma and heal, this action of handing out bracelets and wearing it herself reminds Annebelle of losing her sister, but is actively working through her emotions and memories. Secondly Karlijn is described to be a “real Dutch girl in an American world”, proudly showing off her nationality and being as straightforward and direct with people as only the Dutch can be. Throughout this section shots of both audience members and other guests at the table smiling and nodding, shows their recognition and agreeance with these statements. A speech by an American friend is shown, who said “[s]he paraded around in orange to share her country's pride, and happily shared Dutch delicacies with me”. Karlijn was accepted for typical Dutch characteristics such as being straightforward. It is clear that RTL Late Night wanted to include this section on her nationality because it will likely resonate with the viewers as they are either Dutch or Dutch speaking, and this can help the viewers feel a deeper connection with her story. Lastly, Humberto explains that there are still many questions surrounding MH17 and the investigation is ongoing, proceeding to ask Annebelle whether she is still bothered by this and if there is more that she wants to know. She answers:

Actually it does not. We got lucky that Karlijn and Laurens were found relatively quickly, and that we could bury them. That is then also the place it ends for us. We do not necessarily need a perpetrator, and I am angry occasionally, but when I am, I am more angry at “why did they have to get on that plane” and “why could they not have taken a later flight”. There were a lot of meetings for all of the relatives of victims, but we all chose to not go to those. That is because we already buried them and that chapter for us is closed.

According to Pantti and Wahl-Jorgensen, “man-made” disasters open up the chance of questioning the fault and responsibility of either the human error or negligence, or the technology and the lifestyle (7). This warners the possibility for “outlaw emotions” such as anger as well, however it is clear from her answers and her viewpoint that her family’s way of coping with this loss is by moving forward, and not trying to blame someone else. In terms of working through, there are three steps that someone or a community can undertake. First they need to remember and mourn their trauma, as one works through a memory or fact when looking at it from a distance. This allows for critical analysation of that memory. In the case of

Annebelle, it seems as though she has accepted her sisters death and can look at it as a past event. Secondly, victims need to have access to a safe environment when giving their testimony or confession. Previous to the show, she presumably talked to her parents, friends and loved ones. She seems to feel very comfortable answering Humberto’s questions, and she seems proud of her sister as she is seen smiling a lot. Lastly a confession or an apology from the perpetrator may be needed for the victim to be able to grant them forgiveness and move forward. It is clear from her answers that she does not ‘care’ to blame someone, she seems to refuse to go to meetings that are set up to help recovering families from this traumatic event. This could be because she has already successfully healed and worked through her emotions, or she could be acting out against receiving this help. Lastly however, the act of burying Karlijn and Laurens has helped them to perform their mourning and begin their healing process.

6.1.3 Nabestaanden willen meer international druk

This episode aired on RTL Late Night in 2014 on October 23rd, three months after the crash. First of all, it is a longer, more informational segment compared to the previous two fragments. Due to the talk show’s popularity and sensational nature there is an increase in people learning about news topics through this unconventional way, and these shows have become integral in the public sphere. As the episode aired only a few months after the crash, it had the potential to inform a lot of people that may not have known these details before. The show invited three relatives of two victims, who were there to discuss why they had taken it upon themselves to go to the site of the crash personally and look for answers there. Instead of waiting for the government or the appropriate authorities to finish their investigation, they confronted the government by going there themselves. Even though both of the men wanted to go, a decision was made for Robby Oehlers to go alone because of the dangers that this trip could potentially create for him. At the time it was a dangerous war zone to travel to. In order to get a better understanding of the case, detailed eyewitness testimonies from either survivors, or close observers such as Robby, together with journalists’ accounts and rescue workers “can construct a shared understanding of what has taken place, inviting [viewers] to bear witness to the horror” (Pantti, Wahl-Jorgensen, 13). Second guest Rob and his wife Silene both agreed that they did not feel the need to go visit the site anymore because Robby went, who also searched on their behalf. This strengthened the bond within their own community of victims and their family, and created solidarity (6). Although a large part of their questions have been answered because of Robby’s journey, they all find that a lot more international pressure needs to be exerted on the Ukraine and Russia so that there are moments of peace during which the investigation can continue.

Throughout the interview, there are various video sequences. The first being more introductory, mainly focussing on the narrative surrounding what happened and the frustrations from relatives in regards to the repatriation of many bodies and body parts. A lot of the images and videos that are shown of the site of the crash itself are the same as shown in the other two examples. The video sequences, in between the dialogue between the host and the relatives of two victims, are longer and state a lot of the problems that the investigation is facing now. The prime minister is shown giving a speech about the unrest and increase in tension surrounding the crash site, which is resulting in the difficulty to continue the investigation and repatriation of the remaining bodies. However, there are a lot of the videos shown that were directly made by Robby when he travelled to the Ukraine.

Fig. 5: Robby on the balcony of his hotel room listening to shooting and bombings

Fig. 6: Robby at the crash site looking for Daisy and Bryce’s belongings

As people place greater trust in things they can see with their own eyes, these ‘raw’ videos tend to make news stories more believable. The videos shown in this episode are more graphic, although some are intentionally blurred out by editors so that viewers cannot see the details. The continuous repetition of the images and videos and depiction of the horror and death that occurred at and around the site, is sensational (Pantti, Wahl-Jorgensen, 13). The images of such horrors and the affect that conjures such emotions “designates the body’s ability to suffer, to hurt in specific ways, its vulnerability to elements and forces of nature; it inheres within the body's ability to be affected or moved by the sight of suffering, and its capacity to react in any number of ways” (McCosker). Therefore the framing in relation to what type of narrative they are trying to portray is different to the previous examples. Interestingly Robby also discusses the way that the media has framed the situation and crash site a lot during his interview, suggesting that there are many facts that are simply wrong. Firstly he understands that journalists need to be able to talk during takes, and cannot be understood during times of chaos and bombing. However, filming during quiet periods painted a much less dangerous situation than he had initially thought, as he says that he was located right in the danger zone, only 1 to 3 kilometers from the bombings and shooting. He was very adamant that he would come home and tell everyone how dangerous it is over there, and that “it is incredibly dangerous for our Dutch researchers and investigators to walk around there because people do not have any ethics. They just shoot at everything that moves”. In Robby’s opinion the media portrayed the wrong idea that the local people were luding the crash site of the victims belongings. He instead described the locals as being heroes, that lose their own people daily, but still try to help as much as they can. Robby mentions having seen Ray Ban sunglasses, bottles of perfume, and even a whiskey bottle wrapped in the box and unharmed. This proves to him personally that the local people are not trying to profit from this horrible situation, and he is now informing the viewers of this show at home of his findings. As discussed earlier in this study, visuals simply arouse more emotions that affect the message processing, making stories that are accompanied by images likely to be remembered better. Visuals also lead to a more immersed and engaged audience. According to Kirby however, when an audience is immersed, it is not just about “flooding the audience with information and images, it's about allowing them to respond to the visual and auditory stimuli and engage with the film”. There is one moment in which a longer silence occurs, when the host specifically waits with moving the conversation further. This is at 13m04s, Robby was explaining that he had seen many body parts still, and Humberto asks him “because you did see them?”, putting more emphasis on this fact. A sad “yes” is Robby’s response. For the audience in

the live studio and at home to take in, this is a moment in which they can become fully aware of what has been said. In regards to how Rob, Robby and Silene have processed the loss of Desiree and Bryce, arguably they have not yet accepted their fate fully. Although Bryce and Desiree have been identified because of partial remains that were found, they say that it is not even close to a beginning of a goodbye. Silene says that she wonders whether she can every truly say goodbye to them, to which Robby replies that it is hard to decide when to start or to stop with a goodbye. He continues with saying:

When is there enough of a body to bury? And what do I tell other relatives when I have seen that there are still body parts laying around? They’ll wonder what a guy from Amsterdam with two dogs is doing at the crash site in between the bodies, wondering if that’s not traumatic for me. To which I would reply that if your family is lying somewhere, you would dig through corpses and it all doesn’t matter anymore.

By going to the site of the crash he is experiencing the incident first hand, and the repetition of both the new experience of seeing where his niece died, as well as the experience of remembering when he first heard of the crash can mimic the impact of the trauma. He says he is not traumatized, and that may be because of the adrenaline and determination he is still feeling during this interview to get justice for Bryce and Desiree. He is still acting out, not being able to determine past from present as he is still living his nightmare. However, again acknowledging his loss, and sharing his feelings on national television are steps towards working through trauma and healing.

6.2 Narrative surrounding Las Vegas Shooting

In regards to media stories and information surrounding any type of shooting, internationally the stories that stand out are the debates surrounding gun laws in The United States. Following any tragic shooting in The USA, there always ongoing debates between NRA (National Rifle Association) supporters and those who firmly believe in the removal of guns in America, which in my observation is a subject that causes a great divide in the country. As they cannot find a solution to a man-made disaster, and therefore cannot agree who is the perpetrator, it leads me to assume that this could be a reason why The US cannot find closure from past shooting tragedies, and establish a healthy healing process. It is an ongoing problem, a wound that keeps being reopened because of the frequency of gun violence. For example, by

May 2018 there had been 17 school shootings already. Dominant societal structures, and beliefs such as the allowance of ownership of guns relate and influence the frame a lot (Castells). Framing tends to use the only existing power relationships in our society that will create certain narratives and this theory has its roots “in the analysis of discourse and ideology” (McCosker). Politically, the MH17 crash may have increased tension between two nations, but it did allow The Netherlands to easily name a perpetrator. This decision did not cause much of a divide in the nation and it arguably strengthened the bond, and thus the feeling of nationality. As Kaya says, “[r]emembering, mourning, and forgiving are posited as key political-moral actions that should be carried out in the present in order to guarantee a peaceful future” (687). It was perhaps easier for the Dutch to blame the Russian nation, than for US citizens to blame and forgive themselves, as it was one of their ‘own’.

6.2.1 Ellen Meets Las Vegas Survivors Jesus Campos and Stephen Shuck

Surrounding the Las Vegas shooting, there was an incredible amount of media coverage, not only in the USA but also around the world. Unlike the MH17 disaster, it quickly became known who the shooter was, and days later that he had no connections to islamic terrorism, as ISIS had claimed his shooting as their own. When Ellen DeGeneres’ show was airing a new episode the day after the shooting, she opened with a monologue about being heartbroken for all those that are affected by what happened in Las Vegas. She said that she was happy that her audience could be there that day and that she was hoping to fill the studio with love, prayers and hope. She says continues by saying that “[w]e were just in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and when you think of Las Vegas, it’s a place to escape and have fun and you never imagine anything like this could ever happen" (Jensen). Addressing the situation immediately is already a way of accepting, as one acknowledges that it has happened. With this opening monologue she feeling emotional and perhaps wanted to both send out her support as well as receive it personally. She admitted to feeling helpless, all the while encouraging her audience to stay optimistic by saying “It’s very easy to lose hope, but we cannot do that. I always say that there’s a lot more good in the world than there is bad, and I continue to believe that. And that is what we have to focus on" (Jensen). Two weeks after the Las Vegas shooting, Ellen arranged to have security officer Jesus Campos and building engineer Stephen Shuck over for her show. Campos was working a night shift at the Mandalay Bay, being called to check on Paddock’s room as a security notification came in as the door of the shooter’s room had been left open for a reasonably lengthy time. Walking up the stairs from the 31st to the 32nd floor, Campos was not able to open the door towards the hallway as it was blocked off. This raised some concern and he then proceeded to

around another way in order to check why the stairwell door was blocked, as well as checking on Paddock’s room. A metal bracket was placed in the doors blocking the stairwell closest to Paddocks room and Campos called maintenance to come check it out (Kaufman). After this phone call he heard what he describes as drilling sounds, that were actually gunshots that Paddock was firing through the door. Building engineer Stephen Shuck responded to the call and was warned by Campos to get down on the floor. It became known when looking at the timeline of the shooting, that Campos was fired at and shot in the leg, approximately 6 minutes before Paddock began shooting towards the festival from his hotel room window (Kaufman). The main reason why they are invited, as Ellen explains, is to celebrate and thank Jesus Campos because of his bravery and saving Stephen Shuck’s life by telling him to get cover whilst the shooter was shooting into the area they were in at the time. She says that Campos being shot in the leg “saved so many people’s lives”, emphasizing this once again by repeating “You saved Stephen’s life, that woman’s life, and god knows how many people’s lives”, painting him as a true national hero. This repetition can be connected to the continuous repetition of questions that were asked in order to prompt Campos to explain exactly where he was in the building. Ellen even takes out a board with the layout of the on which the shooter was located.

Fig. 7: Stephen Shuck (left) and Jesus Campos (right) shown looking at floor plan.

These visuals were used to firstly help Campos to explain in great detail where he walked, which staircase he took; as well as for people to understand his story better. There is a consistency of the message, a central theme which is to establish how, when and where Jesus Campos saved countless people’s lives. Stephen adds to this by saying that he thinks “ the acts of humanity were major that night”. Campos comes across as extremely humble, by wanting to share this act of heroism, as he says:

I just wanted to mention all of the people who assisted that night, whether it was metro, the FBI, the community especially, together who helped everyone in need, the first responders, even the people that got called into the hospitals. And it just pieces together on how everyone came together to help out, even in the darkest hour.

This statement was directly addressed to the people of America and presumably created a strong sense of nationalism and community. Talking directly to all who had helped also breaks the idea of viewers sitting in a dark room like voyeurs watching a screen, and can create a strong sense of inclusion and “becomes much more submerged in the social dimension” (Qtd in. Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 134). Talking about an event such as this also keeps the social memory alive in the community and becomes an integral part of their identity. From the start of the interview, Ellen immediately makes the assumption that these two men must be “reliving” the incident “a lot”. Bearing in mind that the shooting happened only two weeks before this interview, they express how they are trying to deal with the event and the emotions that come along with them. Jesus Campos is clearly uncomfortable which arguably is a sign of the event still being traumatic and difficult to think of. According to Muntean, in order to truly forget an event “we must first summon up the strength to remember it properly” (53). Ellen mentions that she understands his reluctance to talk to anyone about his experience. He declined requests of talking to the press for two weeks, because he would rather this all go away and “be over”. She commends him for deciding to open up during this particular interview, and that she does not blame him for never wanting to talk about it again after this. Having to “relive it over and over” must be a very painful experience, but talking about his pain and his experience according to Ellen is also helpful for people to understand what a hero he is. Reliving the memories as if they are happening in the present is what La Capra described to be acting out, and it is clear he has not yet worked through his trauma which would mean taking a more distant look at the past. This interview also means she got an exclusive story, as Campos had refused to talk to anyone about his personal experience. Both Campos and Shuck are surviving victims who got the closest to Paddock and the terrorist attack. Every story surrounding the Las Vegas shooting must have been popular, but this interview must have led to a great number of views as this was a ‘never heard before’ story which adds to the level of spectacle. Wanting to know everything about the situation, from the details of which stairwell Campos took, to what he felt when he called maintenance and all of the events leading up to him getting shot is voyeuristic interest.

Even Though both Jesus and Stephen had let known prior to the show that they did not want any money for their heroic acts, however Ellen surprised them with rewarding them both with tickets to games of their favorite sports teams. She also realizes that they care more about the community than their personal interests, so she teamed up with Shutterfly who “wants to take care of communities” and donated twenty five thousand dollars to a Gofundme page that is dedicated to supporting victims of the shooting in their name. A common concept in therapy news is the confess and reward system as I have named it. The victim or perpetrator that has produced a confession will be rewarded for sharing it publicly. The segment ends right after with Ellen mentioning to go to her website in order to get more information on how to help the victims of the shooting. Finally, when closing the show DeGeneres made a very positive statement, saying that: "The world is full of amazing people", "Good will always win. Love will always win" (Jensen). This resembles closely what Anne Rothe said about victim talk, about good always winning from evil (Ball, 89).

6.2.2 A Young Couple Tells Megyn Kelly How They Survived Las Vegas Shooting

This last segment is from the Megyn Kelly TODAY show. In this episode Megyn welcomes two survivors of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting, Nick Campbell and Olivia Vizzi. The two teenagers were at the festival in Las Vegas and experienced the horror that unfolded when Stephen Paddock started his gunfire into the crowd. Nick was badly injured by getting shot in his back and chest, as he was shielding his girlfriend Olivia from the bullets. After the shooting had stopped Nick could not walk and was helped by an unknown Marine who made a makeshift tourniquet, proceeding to carry him to a car. This Marine has not yet been found, and Megyn setup a way of contacting her show if someone knows who it is or where to find him so they can reunite Nick with his hero. All of this information is told in an introductory video, but right before they show this Megyn says “this is their story”, suggesting this segment will be highly personal. By focusing on, who they call “the youngest hero alive”, the show is frame setting which means they have taken one aspect from an issue and made this the most important. The two teenagers are classed as undeserving victims through the use of personal photos, mentioning their age and that they were simply there to have a good time.

Fig. 8: Nick and Olivia posing in front of handmade poster

The video sequence also includes both professionally and mobile video footage from the shooting, combining the two types of film creates a better sense of actuality, as well as level of credibility. The videos that are filmed at the scene by mobile phones are often used by official television news channels to show a more personalized approach. These modern social productions of media from disaster zones increase affectivity (McCosker) What is interesting is that they show a lot of video segments that in which the gunfire and screaming is clearly heard. The visuals, although watched under controlled conditions such as in your own home or in a safe studio, can still elicit an immediate affect response that “mimic[s] the sudden impact of trauma, or the quality of a post-traumatic memory, characterized by the involuntary repetition of the experience that the mind fails to process in the normal way" (Bennett, 10-11). This is because the traumatic event can also be experienced through watching it on television, making the audience not just a spectator but more engaged. Although many people will have already heard of the details surrounding the shooting, the video still defines and diagnoses the problem by stating briefly what happened. Communities are are frequently shaped by historical trauma, because it is so significant that it can be built into cultural norms (Trauma definition). This also means that talking about it publicly will help the community heal. By saying that it has been fifty two days since the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, it creates a level of distance. In order to move forward and work through a trauma, the establishing of a clear past, present and future are very important. It can be argued that Nick is working through his trauma, because he clearly tries to fact check and gather information in order to construct a correct past (La Capra). He cannot remember everything but he is actively working on that.

Chapter 4: Conclusion

All in all, this thesis aimed to look at how national tragedies are portrayed through talk shows, by way of framing, use of trauma and therapy as entertainment tools. Disaster media coverage will remain consistent over time, because a time without conflict or accidents is not realistic. Disaster coverage has changed over the past years from being more anaesthetic to aesthetic in terms of emotionality and the ever evolving technical media landscape. Media and technology are inexplicably important to modern society and the boom in talk shows as news sources have become a vital part of the discussion. It is also becoming more apparent that the news is allowed to be both rational as well as emotional, as the change from private to public sphere has impacted the level of acceptability to be emotional. TV talk shows are thus based on emotions and opinions rather than on facts and observations. It is also not based “on content-related discourse, but on entertainment and scandal. The consequence of applying such values and the relevant aesthetics is a shift from public (social, political or cultural) discourse to private, or even intimate issues of public people” (Szymkowska-Bartyzel, 134). Therapy news has become increasingly more important to society because of this shift, and talk show’s popularity and sensational nature cause an increase in people learning about the news through this unconventional way. The way that nations deal with such tragedies that may have had a collective traumatic impact, clearly varies per culture and incident. Although difficult to compare two events that were not related, there were clear similarities in the recurring of themes such as the the use of imagery as an affective tool. Striking visuals, such as the continuous use of selfies from victims and other personal photos, will create a more deeper emotional bond between the viewers and the image. This in turn also makes the news story more memorable as negative news stories with the inclusion of video, which has been proven to obtain increased attention (Pfau et al. 305). The use of trauma as a narrative structure and using memories as forms of truth-telling, revelation, exposure and self-exposure, also came back in all five of the fragments (Biressi, 401). The idea of “therapy news” is also interesting in regards to the case studies because both events encouraged the sharing of these personal emotions and experiences. Even though it is in the talk show’s own interest to use trauma narratives and striking visuals to get more views, it also generates a wider debate and encourages the process of healing. The sharing of emotions is done in a public setting as there is not only a studio audience but it is also broadcasted live, albeit at different times. Shared emotions expressed in public spheres are largely felt in the community, which help to form a sense of national belonging. The therapeutic culture has had a

complex development process and this discourse has led to a better understanding of others and their suffering because of the possibility of self-reflection and the knowing of the self (Lennon-Patience, 26). One of the clearest difference between the two shows are the formats of the shows. In the USA it is more common to focus on one or two guests that, separated from the rest of the guests, in a more casual setting like having them seated on a couch. Whereas in The Netherlands the talk shows that are predominantly watched during the night time have the guests seated around a table, portraying a more ‘serious’ type of discussion. The three shows all air at different times, the TODAY and Ellen show’s airing during the day time and RTL Late Night airing at 22:30. The formats tend to vary depending on the country, but it can thus be concluded that the range of which trauma is talked about and spectacularized in the two countries is different. Another difference that was noticeable was the fact that in both segments of the American shows, the surviving victims were rewarded with gifts such as season tickets to go see their favorite football team, or being flown to another city to meet their favorite team. The victims in The Netherlands are not rewarded with any gifts, but are encouraged with words of support. The last difference is the fact that there were direct survivors from the Las Vegas Shooting that could be interviewed. People who got shot and could tell first hand what happened which adds a level of spectacle because they were ‘really there’. In The Netherland’s victims were relatives of people who had died during the crash, and can only describe to viewers how it felt to lose the people that they love and wait for information just like the rest of the nation. This leads me to the idea that this thesis could be used for future research and compare the differences and similarities rigorously, which can help emphasize the difference in use of media during disasters. Another route regarding the use of trauma as an entertainment tool in popular culture, could be to focus on talk shows and entertainment news, on fictional narratives or even documentaries. National Geographic recently released an episode of Air Crash Investigation, a documentary series, in which their focal point is MH17. Reenactment of scenes thought to have happened, possible conversations between passengers and generally a reconstruction of the entire crash implies the use of this trauma narrative as even more of a spectacle. There is also a fictional movie coming out about the terrorist attack on the train from Amsterdam to Paris, during which three American soldiers helped stop the attack from happening.

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