The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla concentrates on the tourist element of the Mississippi River with a focus on the media construction of an annual floating event that occurs on the river. Michael O. Johnston shows that the canoeing and kayaking event itself is void of meaning; it is the news media that brings these events to life through real world accounts about a kayaker who nearly collided with a fifty-five-foot yacht, a person dressed up as a pirate with a live parrot as a prop, a guy with a Floatzilla logo tattooed on his hand, and the death of a longtime friend and cornerstone of the event. Johnston draws from research across multiple disciplines to explain how the media constructs the natural and bodily experiences canoers and kayakers say they have while attending Floatzilla. He discusses the importance of meaning and sense of place in maintaining a connectedness between the built environment, nature, and the people who attend this event. Ultimately, the author contends that social meaning is essential for humans to make sense of their surroundings.

Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest: Reconstructing the Mississippi River explores the interaction of people and environment in two contemporary rural villages in the Midwest. Michael O. Johnston examines how place and identity are constructed differently among residents of these two villages and how this reflects and shapes the different experiences that people have while attending this annual interstate festival. Johnston analyzes media coverage about this event from local newspaper, local television news, and freelancers who covered this festival to show the significance of media representations in providing a glimpse at people's experiences while attending this festival. Throughout this book, Johnston demonstrates the dialectical relationship between the making of identity and place at this festival. By tracing these contemporary festivals, this book challenges the persistent homogenization of people and place that often exists when talking about communities in the Midwest.