News media and television journalism have been instrumental in the shaping of American collective memory for much of the twentieth century. Indeed, since the United States’ colonial era, public images and news media influenced collective memory and discourse about national development and national trauma. Journalistic influence is growing less important however, as social networking sites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter provide a constant source of alternative news sources for users.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
In many ways, mainstream journalists have maintained an authoritative voice as the storytellers of the American past.[1] Their documentary style narratives, detailed exposes, and their positions in the present make them prime sources for public memory. Specifically, news media journalists have shaped collective memory on nearly every major national event – from the deaths of social and political figures, to the progression of political hopefuls. Journalists provide elaborate descriptions of commemorative events in U.S. history and contemporary popular cultural sensations.[2] Many Americans learn the significance of historical events and political issues through news media, as they are presented on popular news stations. The recent controversy surrounding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) struggles to secure marital rights figures prominently in news media, which has helped educated many Americans on the contemporary progression of [civil rights struggles], as well as it has provided them with means for supporting or rejecting political gains for LGBT citizens.
Nonetheless, as social networking becomes more popular among older and younger generations, sites like Facebook and Youtube gradually undermine the traditionally authoritative voices of news media. [3]American citizens, for example, contest media coverage of various social and political events as they see fit, inserting their voices into the narratives about America’s past and present, and shaping their own collective memories. One example of this is the public explosion of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford Florida. News media coverage of the incident was minimal until social media users made the story recognizable through their constant discussion of the case. Approximately one month after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, its online coverage by everyday Americans garnered national attention from mainstream media journalists. In short, the growing social media trend is allowing greater American participation in telling the stories of America’s past and present, and certainly, shaping its future.
- ^ Kitch, Carolyn. "Anniversary Journalism, Collective Memory, and the Cultural Authority to Tell the Story of the American Past." Journal of Popular Culture, 2002: 44-67
- ^ Pajala, Mary. "Television as an Archive of Memory?" Critical Studies in Television, 2010: 133-145
- ^ Myers, Oren, Motti Neiger, and et al. On Media Memory: Collective Memory in a New Media Age. New York : Palgrave MacMillan, 2011