Remember the 507th: Online News, Memory, and the 10-year Anniversary of the Battle of Nasiriyah

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Paper Session: Journalism Studies Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

In 2013, American news outlets commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the Iraq War. Many focused on the Battle of Nasiriyah and its commencement with the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company. This was one of the war’s first battles and produced household names of the soldiers involved (most notably, Jessica Lynch). It also highlighted emerging issues in modern warfare like the blurring of the front lines and the role of women and support troops. Informed by Halbwachs’ concept of collective memory and drawing on notions of contestation and resistance in collective memory, this paper examines online news platforms as sites of memory. The paper represents a textual analysis of comment sections attached to online news commemorations of the battle’s anniversary. Audiences at these sites conducted four types of memory work: reinforcing the commemoration, working to edit the record, correcting memory’s focus, and foregrounding identity. Implications of these themes are discussed.

Author

• Elena Rosa Maris, U of Pennsylvania