The newspaper was one of the first sources which created the notion of the imagined community. Today it has given way to new and more advanced technology such as the television in instilling a sense of nationalism. The World Cup offers us a look into how television and the world cup can instill nationalistic identities. The 2002 World Cup was the first time this event was held in Asia and it took place in Korea/Japan two collectivist countries compared to the West (individualistic). Major sporting events are one of the biggest sources of nationalism that does not involve catastrophic events such as war (some would classify losing the World Cup a catastrophic event), the sporting of a jersey (or a red shirt in Korea’s case) offers us unity and the feeling of being part of the nation. The World Cup gave the citizens of Korea a reason to unite and it instilled pride and a wanting to be Korean. It gave us the imagined community in that we could be sure almost every Korean would be tuned into the soccer game, celebrating the same moments, lamenting the same missed opportunities and sharing the feelings of joy, sadness, anxiety among others. However, while the newspaper could only be read by one single reader at a time, one television set can offer images to thousands and thousands of people simultaneously and this provides the opportunity for citizens to gather in the same place. The areas designated around Seoul provide such an example, instead of watching the event alone and imagining the rest of the nation, you can watch with many people together and imagine others doing the same thing and or by themselves. The television instills more nationalism since it allows for people to unite in a same location while maintaining the imagined community the newspapers offered.
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