Media, Memory, and Forgiveness: Case Studies in South Africa and Argentina's Conflict Resolution Processes

Authors

Byron T. Scott
Caroline Escudero
Anya Litvak

Abstract

Studies of conflict frames' customarily include neither mid- to long-term resolution nor the role of the media in that healing process. In theory, the formal reconciliation processes that have followed internal conflicts in many nations provide resolution and a pathway to long-term healing. But do they? As the chief cultural guardians of national memories, what is the role of the media? Between the spikes of crisis reporting, are there persistent frames of journalistic messages that affect how ever-receding events are viewed by new generations? This paper looks at media behavior in two contrasting nations, Argentina and South Africa, while arguing that longitudinal studies would provide valuable understanding to the key question of whether reconciliation processes are a bandage or a cure to conflicts within nations

Recommended Citation

Byron T. Scott, Caroline Escudero, and Anya Litvak, Media, Memory, and Forgiveness: Case Studies in South Africa and Argentina's Conflict Resolution Processes, 2007 J. Disp. Resol. (2007)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2007/iss1/14