The Catastrophe Will Not Be Televised: Media Theory Facing Vajont

This chapter examines the Vajont disaster through the lens of media theory and environmental humanities, analysing films produced before and after the 1963 catastrophe. It argues that the disaster reveals the entanglement of technology, landscape, politics, and elemental forces — especially water — within modern industrial society. By studying documentaries, newsreels, and amateur footage, the chapter shows how media shaped both the myth of technological progress and the representation of catastrophe, while also exposing the limits of visual culture in confronting an event that largely escaped direct representation. Ultimately, the essay proposes Vajont as a paradigmatic case for rethinking the relationship between media, materiality, and environmental catastrophe in the Anthropocene.