Media Reflection Of Death Vaclav Havel And Kim Jong Il In Social Media

Abstract

Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong Il had several features in common: they were approximately the same age; for many years they were leading the state and their decisions exceeded far beyond the state’s borders. Their deaths at nearly the same date have attracted considerable attention. But their value and opinion diversity suggests that their deaths and funerals would not be equal as a topic. This study tries to compare the extent and content, by which the world media reported the events through their accounts in social media. It makes both a quantitative and qualitative analyses of all updates of news in selected media which were published from the date of their death until the date of the funeral by means of their accounts in social media. It tries to fi nd out which death was medially more attractive, how long the subject remained in the media attention, but also what stance the media had to their deaths.