A system and method for using topic messages to understand media relating to an event. An event (such as a live event or broadcast event), is selected where at least a portion of the content of the event is stored as at least one media object, such as, for example a video or audio recording in digital format. A plurality of topic messages relating to the broadcast event is retrieved over a network and are analyzed to identify a plurality of content segments within the event. The topic messages are further analyzed to identify at least one key actor related to the event. Segment and key actor data relating to the event is stored to a computer readable medium in association with the media objects, whereby the segment data identifies the plurality of content segments within the media objects and the key actor data identifies key actors in the event.