Social institutions help retain memory, for instance, about a genocide. Events that happen during genocides have a painful effect in humans, bringing about a lot of suffering. Destruction of property, losing the loved ones, rape and other painful things happen during the genocide. Such events and memories are recorded by a number of social institutions, and can often be retrieved in future for the purpose of making reference. The family institution, government, education, media and religion are some of the social institutions that retain memory about significant events that happen. The capacity of these institutions to retain such memory differ, depending on the effectiveness to do so. There is no doubt that the media is the best suited institution to help in memory retention. It ranks far way better when compared to the other social institutions under consideration. That is the position this paper takes.
In case of a genocide, the media takes active participation in covering the events as they unfold. The information collected is then processed and presented in various ways to reach the intended audience. Such information might be in form of motion pictures, still pictures and sound. The media is tasked with ensuring that the correct information is recorded and passed to the audience. Genocides do not offer the best times for people to have the perfect view of what happens and how it happens (Davidson, 2015). The media, however, has various mechanisms of collecting the relevant information. In addition, media journalists are specially trained on how to collect the most important information during a genocide and how to avoid being hurt in the process of collecting this information. As compared to any other institutions, the most comprehensive coverage can only be done by the media. In addition, the diversity of media personalities mean that a lot can be covered in a single day. Such a wide coverage is essential in getting and understanding what transpired during the period in question.
With the media, one advantage is that upon the information about a genocide being collected, it is processed in a professional manner and conveyed to the audience using various means. This can be through airing the information on television, printing it on newspapers or even airing it on radio stations. Media has a wide coverage as compared to any other social media (Elmas, 2016). Important to note is that media as an institution has several advanced mechanisms through which the information aired is stored. For instance, it is possible to go to a television channel and demand an extract of a story done several years ago. It is also possible to request from the media several clips that were captured during genocides, for a small fee. The fact that most media outlets have embraced technology means that their storage mechanisms have been boosted significantly. Today, a computer is able to store a lot of information to be retrieved when needed. The media has fully embraced this technology. It would also be important to note that media outlets such as newspapers can be kept in their form for a hundred of years to come. The information is often readily available in the media as compared to other social institutions. Media, therefore, is the best as relates to retaining memory about a genocide.
It is important to note that the other institutions also have the ability to retain memory about a genocide. However, they are not as effective as the media because they have inherent shortcomings. The family, for instance, cannot be trusted to retain memory about a genocide perfectly. Research shows that human beings tend to forget about events with time. The memory they have about something tends to fade away as time goes by. In addition, there are several disruptions that may happen between the time the genocide occurred and when such information about the genocide is needed (Thompson, 2010). These events that happen in-between may dilute the memory that a family has about an issue. In addition to this, there is no doubt that a family, as an institution, has no mechanism of offering wide coverage of an event. Lack of training in doing this also means that it cannot be trusted. There is no doubt that during the event, most families will be under stress, trying to find their way out of the region under siege. This is not the right time for the members of this institution to record memory about a genocide (May, n.d). Religion, education and other similar institutions have such flaws, making them highly unreliable.
There are several examples on how media has helped retain memories about a genocide. Take, for example, the infamous Rwanda genocide which saw millions lose their lives. Although the situation was dangerous and risky, trained media personalities were present to cover everything as it unfolded. This information was then aired to the public to see whatever that happened. Media institutions such as CNN and BBC stored the clips and information of this event in their database. Few years after the genocide, these giant media houses prepared several documentaries on the same issue. Today, it is easy for these media companies to provide accurate information of what transpired, because they have it first-hand. Print media institutions, such as the New York Times, have their papers where they ran this stories. It would be easy to use them as reference points as opposed to other social institutions.
References
Davidson, A. (2015). Migration in the Age of Genocide. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-21849-6
Elmas, E. (2016). Towards 2015: Media in Turkey on the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide Legacy, 183-196. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-56163-3_12
Legacy of Rwanda genocide includes media restrictions, self-censorship. (n.d.). Human Rights Documents online. doi:10.1163/2210-7975_hrd-1323-2014003
May, L. (n.d.). Incitement to Genocide and the Rwanda Media Case. Genocide, 180-201. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511807428.010
Thompson, M. (2010). Incitement, Prevention and Media Rights. Confronting Genocide, 97-103. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9840-5_6
