corporate media has a vested interest in ensuring that an economic system from which they
derive unheralded profits is never questioned. Hence, the hegemonic function of the corporate
media is to generate distractions in the form of pseudo-events which pump fear into the souls
of unreflective citizens. Pseudo-events serve to quell any semblance of meaningful dialogue
related to genuine social problems such as the massive gap between the rich and the poor
reflected in the progressive eroding of the American middle-class. As Baudrillard explains in
his essay America, the media intentionally fabricates idealistic simulations of the “American
dream” that only recognize “evidence of wealth” in the face of growing economic disparities
(109; my trans.). Since the corporate media possesses the means of reproduction (of reality),
the presence of acute poverty in the wealthiest nation in the world is relegated to the status of
non-existence from the standpoint of social consciousness.
In conclusion, the American Ebola crisis is merely the latest in a long line of other
pseudo-events orchestrated by the mainstream media. Although this deadly infectious disease
has claimed the lives of far too many victims in impoverished countries throughout Africa since
the 1970s, the official script performed daily by American journalists on all major networks falls
into the realm of a sensational spectacle. The gap between this ludicrous screenplay and the
scientific reality that very few Americans were ever at risk confirms Baudrillard’s theories
related to hyper-reality and the strategic role of media saturation in the modern world. Instead
of relying upon decades of scientific erudition which should have allayed any unfounded fears
regarding the most recent Ebola outbreak, the American media deliberately perpetrated a
“shameful and pointless hoax” (The Gulf War Did Not Take Place 72). Given the lack of
pushback from the undiscerning American populace, simulated reality appears to be the new
norm. This recent pseudo-event beckons us to ponder whether Baudrillard’s prediction that
reality would one day be effaced entirely has come to fruition.
Mississippi State University
Keith Moser
Works Cited
Abbinnett, Ross. “The Spectre and the Simulacrum." Theory, Culture & Society 25(6):
69-87.
Baudrillard, Jean. Amdrique. Paris: Editions Grasset et Fasquelle, 1986.
____ . Seduction. Trans. Brian Singer. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
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