Leveraging Media History to Improve Modern Journalism
We were delighted to host the Center for Transformative Media’s event “Leveraging Media History to Improve Modern Journalism” in our large presentation space! The event featured a conversation between Molly Brown, the Reference and Outreach Archivist at Northeastern, and Andre Stark, an Emmy-winning writer, director, and producer and co-owner of The Bay State Banner, moderated by Meg Heckman, Journalism professor at Northeastern. The event sought to facilitate a discussion of the relationship between newspapers and archives.
Newspapers have long documented events both major and mundane, and their archives play a vital role in sustaining—and challenging—collective memory. In Molly’s words: “Local news tells the first draft of history, archives preserve it for the future.” This conversation highlighted how a comprehensive understanding of a community’s history supports inclusive journalism and promotes civic life. Molly highlighted how local news and local archives are engines of community memory that create a foundation for informed civic participation for future generations.
The event began with brief introductions from the speakers. Molly has been working in Northeastern University’s Archives and Special Collections for eight years. Andre worked in television, including WGBH, for two decades before shifting to print media.
Meg asked both speakers to discuss how they view the other’s industry. Andre underscored the importance of collaborating with local archives when writing local news. He said it is important to not forget where we came from, and archives are an essential tool for this. Molly viewed local news through a pedagogical framework. She pointed to local news as a great resource for understanding vocabulary of a time period. They both shed some light on the working relationship between archives and newspapers, with both agreeing that there is a constant need for newspapers to access archival material. Molly identified two main approaches: requests from journalists who know exactly what they want and requests from journalists who are just starting a story.
This event was an interesting discussion on the relationship between local news and local archives that emphasized the importance of both these institutions. To see more of the Center for Transformative Media’s event, please see their Events page. The CDS is happy to be able to host a wide variety of events!