In her excellent article "Generational Identity and Memory in American Newsmagazines," Carolyn Kitch describes the role the media plays in constructing generational labels. One paragraph in particular caught our eye in light of the recent 60 Minutes piece on the Millennials (Gen Y):
“A fourth similarity in each generational narrative is the progression of its tone from negative to positive. This has nothing to do with whether or not a group is actually ‘new’ in American culture when it is first named: in the late 1990’s, the Greatest Generation was hardly a new phenomenon as a cohesive social group, nor was the Baby Boom by the time the oldest members turned 40 in the 1980’s. Each generation has been portrayed first as problematic (part of the journalistic ‘surprise’ at its discovery) and then, increasingly, as more acceptable and admirable. The common storyline begins with each group’s selfishness or irresponsibility and its inexplicability to other generations. Then its image improves, as subsequent coverage discusses the generation’s achievements, character, and merit. Those positive qualities, however, are described as ‘different’ than the qualities of the immediately preceding generations, allowing novelty to remain part of the story.”
To what extent does the media affect our thoughts about other generations?
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Kitch, Carolyn "Generational Identity and Memory in American Newsmagazines" Journalism Vol. 4(2): 185-202.
Abstract:
Journalism, Vol. 4, No. 2, 185-202 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/146488490342003
© 2003 SAGE Publications
Generational Identity and Memory in American Newsmagazines
Carolyn Kitch
Department of Journalism, Public Relations and Advertising, Temple University,
ckitch@temple.eduThis article examines the role of journalism in constructing generational labels - such as the Baby Boom, Generation X, Generation Y and the ‘Greatest Generation’ - and in articulating their meaning over time. Through narrative and rhetorical analysis, it examines 20 years of cover stories about generational identity in leading American newsmagazines. The study contends that, even while they situate particular people within particular historical contexts, such ‘special reports’ employ common narrative devices and themes of youth and nostalgia, blending the stories of individual groups into broader notions about generational and national identity. This kind of reporting extends journalists’ cultural authority and is a matter of memory as well as ‘news’, offering not just definitions of current social identity but also future understandings of a shared past.
Key Words: generation • identity • journalism • memory • newsmagazines • nostalgia
For full text and reprints contact Sage Publications via this link:
http://jou.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/4/2/185
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