ABSTRACT
Against the cluttered flow of everyday life—and the even more cluttered information environment—certain moments stand out, defined as deserving to be remembered. The “instant memory” so produced need not endure, as a change in context renders the original into a different experience altogether. Whatever the ultimate fate of “instant memory,” its construction deserves our analytical attention. In short, “instant memory,” once moved outside the individual mind, can and often does become public property, providing us with some essential raw material for constructing “realities of the past.” For commercial television, “good stories” may be those judged most relevant to the public, or those with the best visuals, or those valuable for their unique point of view, or simply those well told. The ability to frame public “instant memory” with electronic media is a prized political possession. Among seasoned media critics, the idea that “instant memory” would be a true record of the events is analytically preposterous.
