Troubled Pasts : News and the Collective Memory of Social Unrest

A Nation's Collective Memory Does Not Simply Exist. It Is Created. But What Factors Influence Its Form And Content? And What Roles Do The News Media Play In Fashioning Our Collective Memory? Here Jill A. Edy Observes The Process Of Negotiating A Meaning For The Past As It Unfolds In The News, Exploring The Ways That News Practices, The Relationships Between Actors Who Make The News, The Expectations Of News Audiences, And The Impact Of Current Events Affect The Development Of Collective Memories In A Mass Society. Using The 1965 Watts Riots And The 1968 Democratic Convention In Chicago As Case Studies, Edy Creates A Useful Framework For Understanding How, Over Time, Conflicting Versions Of Events Are Resolved, What Forms The Resolutions Take, And How Those Resolutions Influence The Representation Of Current News Stories. Anyone Who Is Interested In Political Communication And The Role Of Media In Public Culture Will Find A Wealth Of Insights In This Valuable New Book. Introduction -- Real-time News: Covering The Watts Riots And The Chicago Convention -- Political Officials And The Public Past -- Defusing Controversy And Paving The Way For Collective Memory -- Building Collective Memory: Story Integration -- Using Collective Memory: The Role Of The Past In The Present -- Conclusions: The Future Of The Past. Jill A. Edy. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [213]-224) And Index. Contrasting the news coverage of the 1965 riots in Watts and the unrest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, looks at the impact and influence of news coverage on the public's interpretation of transformative events. How the media shape collective memory and use that memory to shape our understanding of current events