ABSTRACT

Media historians study the “dynamic dimension of historical memory.” Describing where one has been and influencing where one is going, historical memory serves as a snapshot to capture a moment or set of moments that can be frozen in time. This article provides an understanding of the historical and collective memory of eighteen employees who left their television news jobs after decades at a single local station. Eight of the broadcast journalists were given buyouts as part of downsizing at WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia that is part of TEGNA. But, departing employees at two other stations in Atlanta and seven other markets also left messages worthy of closer analysis of their most poignant memories. The findings reveal how collective memory is processual, unpredictable, partial, usable, both particular and universal, and material. These six categories reveal the “Power of Parting Words” in “exit interviews” and the significance historical memory has in an institutional context of journalism. Since leaving their jobs in 2016, two of the employees in this research have passed away. Their archived interviews are central elements of “memorializing discourse” scholarship and convey a component of collective memory that invokes shared norms and values.

摘要

媒体历史学家研究“历史记忆的动态维度”。描述一个人去过的地方并影响一个人去的地方，历史记忆充当快照，以捕获可以及时冻结的一个时刻或一组时刻。本文提供了对十八名员工的历史和集体记忆的理解，这些员工在一家本地电台工作了数十年后就离开了电视新闻工作。WXIA-TV是乔治亚州亚特兰大的NBC子公司WXIA-TV的精简版的一部分，其中八名广播新闻记者被买断，这是TEGNA的一部分。但是，离开亚特兰大其他两个站点和其他七个市场的员工也留下了值得进一步分析其最凄惨回忆的信息。这些发现揭示了集体记忆是如何进行的，不可预测的，局部的，可用的，既特殊又普遍的以及物质的。这六个类别揭示了“退出采访”中的“分词能力”，以及历史记忆在新闻业制度背景下的重要意义。自2016年离职以来，该研究的两名员工已去世。他们存档的访谈是“纪念性话语”奖学金的核心要素，传达了集体记忆的一部分，该记忆援引了共同的规范和价值观。