Journalism's Deep Memory: Cold War Mindedness and Coverage of Islamic State

Authors

  • Barbie Zelizer Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania

Keywords:

journalism, memory, Cold War, Islamic State

Abstract

This article considers the coverage of and by Islamic State in conjunction with a mind-set established during the Cold War. It illustrates the degree to which U.S. journalism shapes coverage of Islamic State via interpretive tenets from the Cold War era as well as Islamic State’s use of the same tenets in coverage of itself. The article raises questions about the deep memory structures that undergird U.S. news and about their travel to distant, unexpected, and often dissonant locations.

Author Biography

Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania

Professor of Communication and Raymond Williams Chair of Communication, University of Pennsylvania. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/zelizer.htm

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Published

2016-11-15

Issue

Section

Articles