Reader question:What is "a watershed moment"?

My comments:

First, watershed. A watershed is a great divide. Geographically, it refers to the mountain ridge that divides two water systems. You know, rainfall on one side of the mountain range gathers to form creeks, brooks and at last a big river. The same thing happens on the other side of the ridge to form another, separate river. "Watershed" hence signifies division.

A watershed moment points to a moment in history at which point something significant happens, ushering in great changes. Similarly people talk about a watershed date, event, decision, ruling and so forth. They all mean the same – after the said date, event, decision or ruling things are no longer the same. For instance, 1978 is a watershed date – that year, market-oriented economic reforms were introduced, paving the way for 30 years of unprecedented economic growth throughout the country. Hence, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Party Congress, at which meeting the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world was introduced, became a watershed moment in recent Chinese history.

Here are a few media examples involving watershed:

1. watershed moment

How central a role does the internet play in the electoral process?

...

In the history of politics and media, the 1960 Nixon/Kennedy debate was a watershed moment when it came to establishing the dominant role of colour television. While the web has played an important role in the past several elections, we've yet to have the kind of shared experience that not only defines a campaign, but demonstrates its power and potential.

Some would argue that the moment has already passed, but this is the result of a disconnect between the general electorate and the political class (i.e. the politicians, party activists, journalists and current affairs experts whose BlackBerrys keep them hooked into a 24/7 political spin cycle). The people participating in the political process tend to be well-connected, net-savvy and driven enough to search out less-popular websites and sources of information online. As far as they're concerned, the internet is already playing a central role in influencing the political process.

- Web awaits its electoral watershed moment, October 15, 2007, CBS News.

2. watershed decision

The Supreme Court yesterday struck down the Bush administration's attempt to block an Oregon law permitting doctors to help terminally ill patients die, paving the way for other states to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

...

"This is a watershed decision for freedom and democracy in the US," said Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group. "It reaffirms the liberty, dignity, and privacy Americans cherish at the end of life. No government should threaten these rights nor usurp a state's power to meet the needs of its dying citizens."

- Doctor-assisted suicide gains ground, January 18, 2006, Boston Globe.

3. watershed event

The editors at USA Today's new online edition were preparing for their third day of operation on Wednesday, April 19, when the truck bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City exploded, killing more than 160 people. Suddenly, the staff was scrambling to cover one of the biggest stories of the decade with unfamiliar tools for a medium that has few conventions or rules.

"We had quite the baptism by fire... But, you know newspeople. Everybody loved it," says Lorraine Cichowski, head of the USA Today division that produces the online edition.

Indeed, April 19, 1995, might go down as the day that many fledgling electronic newspapers sprouted their wings and started to demonstrate their potential.

"I think this was a watershed news event for online newspapers, as evidenced by the big jump in traffic at news sites around the Internet," says Steve Outing, an online newspaper service consultant. "A story like this is ideal for online news operations. It's one of those events that people can't get enough news about. They don't want to wait till tomorrow's print paper arrives...with stale news. They don't have to turn on the tube and see what TV producers want to show them at a particular time.”

- A Watershed Event for Online Newspapers, June 1995, American Journalism Review.