Oprah, Meghan, Harry, pseudo-events, and a quick fix to boredom

The article uses the 2021 Oprah with Meghan and Harry television special as a case study to discuss pseudo-events and news cycles, which are represented as an antidote to boredom despite their lack of newsworthiness. I trace back today’s pseudo-events to the beginnings of the Graphic Revolution, during which news was transformed into a commodity, and its entertaining value gained major significance. As a result, the figure of the entertaining newsman has become more important than the relayed story. In response to the fear of boredom, which grips mass society, instead of only reporting current events, the media started making news, that is producing pseudo-events, which are planned and marketed. In order to explain this process, I discuss Oprah, a talk show giant, as a human pseudo-event and the main reason that 49.1 million watched the special.