Enrico Menduni
The “Great Crash” of 1929 was the first example of a modern crisis in which the media played a significant role in the subsequent recovery. The most significant contributors were the cinema, the radio, and photography. The growth of the entertainment industry, even in its most controversial aspects (with the legalization of gambling and the end of prohibition) was also decisive. Academic analysis has been somewhat late in addressing the multiple links between entertainment and the resolution of modern economic crises. In contemporary times, the two traditional spheres of public activity – politics and the media – should recognize the birth of a third sphere, that of social media, where everyone can become a medium. Any proposed solution to such crises that does not take into account the social media factor is likely to be thwarted.