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Mourning Becomes the Nation: television coverage of the murder of Pim Fortuyn

2005; Routledge; Volume: 6; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14616700500131893

1469-9699

Mervi Pantti, Jan Wieten,

Communism, Protests, Social Movements

Abstract This article enters the debate on media events by analysing Dutch television news reporting of the death of controversial right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn. It aims to demonstrate how the coverage of the murder, in particular the representation of emotions, was implicated in the construction of a national, multicultural consensus. A nationwide bereaved community was created by focusing on expressions of mourning, and converting emotions like anger and hate into a unifying and less destructive depiction of grief. Keywords: Media EventsFeeling CommunityNewsEmotionMourning Notes 1. Theo van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death in broad daylight on 2 November 2004. The death of this outspoken filmmaker seems to be directly connected to a short film Submission he produced together with Member of Parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in which the treatment of women in Islam and in the Koran was severely criticized. The noisy memorial service was announced by Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen a few hours after the murder, when it became clear that the murder was connected to Van Gogh's controversial opinions (see "Thousands Make a Racket at Van Gogh Rally", Expatica, 3 November 2004). 2. SBS has been more successful with its late evening Hart van Nederland, a news programme focusing on regional news and human interest. 3. Interview with Hans Laroes, 25 June 2004. 4. Interview with Hans Laroes, 25 June 2004. 5. Interview with Hans Laroes, 25 June 2004. A similar attitude was displayed early on the day of the assassination of newspaper columnist and filmmaker Theo van Gogh. During extra television news broadcasts his suspected murderer was described as dressed as someone with an Islamic background or someone who wanted to appear as such. 6. Interview with Hans Laroes, 25 June 2004. 7. The TV news did pay attention to the suspected murderer's background and his previous activities in environment protection and animal rights groups, but that matter was not treated as potentially disruptive. 8. Nico Haasbroek, the executive producer of the NOS Journaal, who had openly criticized his correspondent in another TV programme, resigned or was forced to resign.