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One earthquake, two tales: narrative analysis of the tenth anniversary coverage of the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan

Chiaoning SuTemple University, Philadelphia, PA

AbstractThis article studies media coverage of the ‘921’ Earthquake in Taiwan during two periods in 2009, ten years after the disaster, which occurred on 21 September 1999 (the date which provided the event with its compressed identifier). First it looks at coverage in the wake of another major disaster (Typhoon Morakot) that occurred just before the tenth anniversary of the earthquake, and then during the regular tenth anniversary commemorations of the earthquake. Using narrative analysis, this article notes that during the first period, journalists responded to a disaster event with an historical precedent by adopting the 921 Earthquake as a benchmark, ‘villain’, and moral allegory to explain the current disaster and forecast future closure. During the second period, this study shows how journalists used regular commemorative features on the 921 Earthquake to describe that event based on survivor testimony and present commemorative events. By portraying two interpretations of a single past event back to back, this study demonstrates how news media selectively employ the ‘usable past,’ and the implications of this for the formation of collective memories of past events.

Keywordscollective memory, commemoration, historical analogy, journalism, natural disaster, press

Journalists have long struggled to answer the question ‘What is new?’ The key responsibility of journalists is generally seen as the timely and objective reporting of current events. However, news media are increasingly looking at the past and its relationship with current

Corresponding author:Chiaoning Su, Annenberg Hall 344, Temple University, 2020 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.Email: chiaoning.su@temple.edu

Article

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issues. Scholars have noted this change in the temporal setting of news reporting, with 19th-century reporting displaying an exclusive focus on the present while contemporary reporting also examines the past. Barnhurst and Mutz (1997: 40) indicated that ‘more than twice as many [news] articles now include references to the past compared to a century ago’. While the drivers of this change remain debatable, past events have undoubtedly become a common ingredient in the recipe for news.

Scholars have recently started examining the links between journalism and collective memory and noted that journalists write both the first and later drafts of history (Edy, 1999, 2006; Kitch, 2005, 2008; Kitzinger, 2000; Meyers, 2002; Schudson, 1992; Zelizer, 1992, 1998, 2008). Their findings have challenged the assumption that journalism involves novelty and objectivity, and have redefined it as the ‘site of memory construc-tion’ (Kitch, 2008: 317), while simultaneously positing journalists as memory agents who report not only the ‘now and here’ but also the ‘then and there’ (Zelizer, 2008). They further proposed three contexts in which journalists represent past events in their report-ing: historical analogy, commemoration and historical context. In each of these contexts, journalistic use of the past has implications for the formation of mediated memory and thus influences memories (Edy, 1999).

Building on the above literature, this study investigates journalistic use of the past and its influence on the formation of collective memory of specific historical events. It exam-ines media coverage of the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan during two periods in 2009, namely in the wake of another major disaster (i.e. Typhoon Morakot) that occurred just before the tenth anniversary of the earthquake, and then during the regular tenth anniversary commemorations of the earthquake. The condensed month/day identifier ‘921’ (the earthquake occurred on 21 September 1999) has acquired a resonance in Taiwan compa-rable to ‘9/11’. Using narrative analysis, this article notes that during the first period, journalists responded to a disaster event with a historical precedent by adopting the 921 Earthquake as a benchmark, ‘villain’, and moral allegory to explain the current disaster and to forecast future closure. During the second period, this study shows how journal-ists used regular commemorative features on the 921 Earthquake to describe that event based on survivor testimony and present commemorative events. By portraying two interpretations of a single past event back to back, this study demonstrates how news media selectively employ the ‘usable past’, and the implications of this for the formation of collective memories of past events.

The past in the news

Remembering involves reconstructing the past from the perspective of the present. Remembering of the past thus is dynamic, constructive, ever changing and strongly influenced by social context. The French sociologist Halbwachs (1980 [1926]) con-ceived remembering as a collective action, since the framework of social memory is used in recalling individual memories. Halbwachs argued that shared social consciousness, not individual consciousness, determines individual memories of the past. Consequently, memories of the past can be seen as a product of a social group. Various present needs may influence how social groups remember the past. Furthermore, how social groups remember the past may evolve with external social context and social needs. Zelizer

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(2008: 82) identified the unique characteristics of collective memory as ‘unpredictabil-ity, partiality, usability, simultaneous particularity and universality, and materiality’, all of which describe the processual and ever changing nature of collective remembering (see also Zelizer, 1995). In this regard, collective memory can never be considered fixed but rather is perceived as constructed and fluid.

Collective memory is a sociocultural construction. The ‘memory’ connection between the real and the remembered is not natural, but rather is articulated through various medi-ated forms. Collective memory and media studies thus are two highly relevant fields of scholarship, especially in the contemporary world, where the mass media have become the historians for our time and monopolize the reconstruction of the past (Edgerton, 2000). Mediated history, which is narrated by, and a collage of, different media, signifi-cantly influences understanding of the past. Consequently, scholars have applied collec-tive memory theory to investigate systematically how various media construct and distribute collective memory in a modern society.

Lang and Lang (1989) first investigated journalistic use of the past and its impact on collective memory formation to understand why past events sometimes become a focus of the news. As Lang and Lang observed: ‘References to the past in news that is reput-edly up-to-date are used as semantic markers – to make connections, to fit an event into a category, and to suggest certain inferences’ (1989: 126). References to the past thus act as (1) a shorthand explanation of present happenings; (2) a yardstick for evaluating cur-rent events and their impact; and (3) lessons for making predictions regarding the future. Following the direction of Lang and Lang, Edy (1999: 74) further identified three occa-sions on which journalists represent past events in their reporting: historical analogy, commemoration, and historical context. For each of these occasions, journalistic use of the past has particular implications for the formation of mediated memory, and thus influences memories. Journalists mostly use contextual historical narratives to provide background knowledge and imply causality between past and present. Journalists also often use analogous historical narratives to clarify the nature of current issues, identify hidden causes, and develop future solutions. However, both types of narratives impede the ability of readers to critically investigate meanings of the past, because the former tend to be presented as ‘facts’ while the latter are either ‘dramatized’ or ‘simplified’ (1999: 73). Only commemorations, as described by Edy (1999: 83), ‘provide discursive space for direct negotiations between varying meanings of the past’ and provide oppor-tunities to critically examine perceptions of history.

On the other hand, Zelizer (2008: 83) indicated that the form of news necessitates, invites, and indulges memory, and transforms journalists into ‘sleuths of the past’. Anniversary journalism, retrospective issues and obituaries are news forms that neces-sitate memory, requiring journalists to engage with the past. Furthermore, when produc-ing journalistic forms that invite memory, journalists build connections between the past and present by using the past as a historical analogy and benchmark for understanding and assessing current circumstances, or as a topic that should be re-examined from the perspective of the present to correct past reporting errors. Finally, in the situation of journalistic form that indulges memory: ‘the past is brought into a news story as an aside or afterthought’ (Zelizer 2008: 85). In this case, journalists use the past to highlight larger issues not necessarily related to current events.

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Many scholars are concerned with how journalists employ historical analogy as a shorthand means of clarifying new situations. Based on examination of the circulation of Holocaust images, Zelizer (1998) observed that the press frequently reprinted old photo-graphs of Nazi atrocities and used them as an interpretative framework to convey meaning regarding contemporary events. Photos of old atrocities thus have become a rhetorical and symbolic tool, with their original context being forgotten. Kitzinger (2000) also indicated that high-profile historical episodes are frequently simplified to fit a ‘media template’ with a fixed meaning that encourages a particular (possibly distorted) understanding of present events. In summary, references to the past that utilize media templates prevent journalists and audiences from considering alternative understandings of the past.

Anniversary journalism has also attracted scholars to examine how past events are conjured up and commemorated, using arbitrary time intervals. Kitch (1999) surveyed decade and century review issues of news magazines to understand their functions in ‘memory-making’. She applied narrative analysis to argue that the collectively devel-oped meta-narrative of news magazines not only ascribes meaning to the past, but further reinforces dominant present cultural trends. Meyers (2002) examined textual and visual presentations of Israeli history in commemorative newspaper supplements. Meyers found changes in commemorative supplements from Israeli newspapers that suggest a shift in thinking among Israelis regarding their history. Modifications in commemorative coverage reflect changing social value systems. Anniversary journalism thus provides a particular platform to observe the perpetuation and evolution of the dominant culture within a society. Finally, another group of scholars examined recent natural disasters and the commemoration of their anniversaries (Forrest, 1993; Fry, 2003; Robinson, 2009). Following careful examination of commemorative images, texts, and survivor testimo-nies, these scholars suggested that disasters can yield varied present meanings and utili-ties, with variation increasing among different social groups.

The literature thus supports the argument that journalism manufactures memory and journalists are significant memory agents. Importantly, the mediated past is not recon-structed in a neutral way, but rather its reconstruction is biased to achieve several agen-das. Consequently, mediated pasts in journalism are often used to explain current circumstances, predict future directions, and support and reinforce the dominant dis-course regarding the status quo. However, the construction and distribution of mediated memory should not be considered a top-down imposition, but rather as a ‘ritual process’, to use the words of James Carey, within which media personnel, journalists, and audi-ences collaboratively seek and negotiate meanings for the past.

Building on the above theoretical foundation, the following section examines memories of the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan and how they were employed on two dif-ferent occasions.

The 921 Earthquake in Taiwan

Technologies to detect, control, and prevent the impact of environmental phenomenon continue to be developed in the world today, but natural disasters remain a threat. The Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED, 2010) reported that from 1990 to 2005, more than 960,000 people worldwide have died as a result of various types

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of natural disasters, with Asia the most severely affected continent. Earthquakes were the deadliest type of disaster, accounting for 60 percent of all fatalities from natural disasters during this period. In 1999, Taiwan suffered a massive earthquake which left lasting physical and mental scars.

It was a normal Monday in Taiwan on 20 September 1999, though the upcoming Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, an important Chinese holiday marked by family reunions, lent the day a celebratory atmosphere. After punching out of work at 5 p.m. people hurried to purchase food and gifts for families and friends. At midnight, many were still awake making travel plans for the holiday.

The earthquake struck at 1:47 a.m. on 21 September 1999, with its epicenter in central Taiwan. In a matter of seconds, the devastating tremor, which measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, released energy equivalent to over 40 atomic bombs, causing incalculable destruction (Lee, 1999). Many reported hearing strange screeching sounds which seemed to warn of the ensuing catastrophe. Numerous people were shaken awake and some thought they were experiencing a bombardment by China (Chang, 2002). In a letter to a friend, well-known Taiwanese writer Man-chuan Chang vividly described her experi-ence during the horrific event:

The shuddering building made shrieking sounds as if it were ready to collapse at any moment. I was terrified and thought I was about to die. That feeling that the world was ending has become part of me and will remain with me all my life. (Chang, 2009)

The government realized the seriousness of the situation and responded swiftly. Then-President Lee Deng-Hui promptly canceled all Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrations and issued an emergency order initiating rescue and relief efforts. Over the next fort-night, more than 460,000 soldiers worked to rescue survivors, locate the missing, and rebuild destroyed bridges and roads. More than 200,000 volunteers from both local and overseas nongovernmental organizations, most notably Tzu-chi, a prominent Taiwanese religious foundation, collected huge amounts of relief goods and delivered them to vic-tims in stricken areas (Huang, 2009). Simultaneously, political leaders, including the three presidential candidates previously engaged in fierce fighting in preparation for the 2000 presidential election, agreed to suspend all political campaigning, and called upon the nation to display social cohesion and face the challenges ahead in a spirit of solidarity (Yang, 1999).

The official government death toll for the 921 Earthquake and its aftershocks stands at 2455. A further 50 persons were ultimately declared missing, presumed dead in the earthquake, and 11,305 were injured. Additionally, 38,935 buildings collapsed fully and a further 45,320 collapsed partially. The total economic losses from the earthquake are estimated at US$10.9 billion (Huang, 2009: 187). The earthquake disrupted lives, tore families apart, deprived people of friends and relatives, and generally traumatized soci-ety. Without a doubt, the earthquake was one of the most painful and unforgettable calamities in Taiwan’s history.

Ten years later, as Taiwanese society gradually recovered from the trauma of the 921 Earthquake and the physical reconstruction was largely completed, Taiwan suffered another natural disaster, as Typhoon Morakot pummeled the island on 8 August 2009.

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According to the Central Weather Bureau, parts of Taiwan experienced a record-breaking 3000 mm of rain over a three-day period. This massive rain event triggered major land-slides, burying more than 700 people in several rural villages in southern Taiwan, and causing at least US$1.5 billion in economic losses (Huang, 2009: 131). The devastation attracted international attention and led the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan to pray for typhoon victims (Lin, 2009). Locally, however, Typhoon Morakot quickly stirred up a political maelstrom due to the government’s sluggish and inept response. Surveys indi-cated that only 10 percent of Taiwanese citizens were satisfied with the performance of President Ma Ying-jeou in heading relief efforts, while 65 percent were strongly dissatis-fied (the TVBS Poll Center, 2009). One month after the tragic event, on 7 September, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigned to take full political responsibility for the ‘disastrous’ crisis management (Pong, 2009).

At the time Morakot struck Taiwan, journalists were counting down to the tenth anni-versary of the 921 Earthquake and preparing special commemorative issues marking the disaster and its associated losses. These issues were initially going to follow the routine framework of traditional anniversary journalism. However, the intrusion of Typhoon Morakot forced journalists to abandon their original plans and spontaneously approach the anniversary from fresh perspectives. The tenth anniversary of the 921 Earthquake thus provides a unique context for examining the textual and visual presentation of mem-ories of disaster.

Methodology

The research materials used in this article were collected primarily from four Taiwanese newspapers – the Liberty Times, Apple Daily, China Times, and United Daily. Although the impact of newspapers is currently a topic of debate, these newspapers retain signifi-cant circulation and readership in Taiwan, and thus deserve attention. ACNielsen (2008) estimated that during the second quarter (April to June) of 2008, the average daily cir-culation of the Liberty Times was 699,450 copies, compared to 509,957 copies for the Apple Daily. Notably, the 2006 Media Index suggested that on average, 45.8 percent of Taiwanese read newspaper on a daily basis. When asked what newspapers they had read the previous day, 14.9 percent of Taiwanese surveyed named the Apple Daily, 15.6 per-cent the Liberty Times, 8.8 percent the China Times and 10.5 percent the United Daily (ACNielsen, 2006).

Next, the keywords ‘921 Earthquake’ were used to search online databases of the four newspapers for earthquake-related news from 1 August through 15 October 2009. Based on a brief initial reading, news articles referring only indirectly to the 921 Earthquake were excluded. For example, one article on how a specific company had donated to assist victims of both the 921 Earthquake and Typhoon Morakot read like an advertorial and thus was not analyzed. However, while certain articles were excluded, the analysis included all editorials and letters to the editor addressing the 921 Earthquake. Meanwhile, given limited access to physical newspapers, this study focused its analysis on the text of news articles while excluding potentially significant visual elements such as page layout and accompanying photographs. The final sample comprised over 250 news articles, including 41 from the Apple Daily, 50 from the Liberty Times, 79 from the China Times, and 82 from the United Daily.

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All sampled news articles were subjected to narrative analysis to identify broad socio-cultural meanings and specific repetitive themes and structures. Narrative analysis is increasingly important for examining media discourse, especially news. Many scholars argue that the cultural function of the journalist is to act as ‘storyteller’, utilizing story-telling techniques to transform abstract, fragmented, and inexplicable information into familiar, recognizable, and digestible patterns and stories (Barkin, 1984; Bird and Dardenne, 1997; Lule, 2001). Rather than viewing news as objective and accurate fact, a more productive view states that ‘news, like folklore, is a cultural construction; a narra-tive that tells a story about things of importance or interest, and that reflects and rein-forces cultural anxieties and concerns’ (Bird, 1996: 44). Lule (2001) found parallels between news and myths, with both news and myths telling repetitive, archetypical, cul-turally resonant stories to instruct the public about normative ways of living and the meaning of life. The findings of Lule reassert that news embodies social values and cultural codes. Using narrative analysis to scrutinize news articles, Kitch (2007: 40) sug-gested, ‘is a search for the common thematic and structural choices reporters and editors made, consistently over time and across media’. Here, researchers should pay special attention to how stories unfold and evolve, how language is used to construct plots, how conflict is resolved, what characters are selected and presented, and how repetitive archetypical stories and characters are used in covering news events/individuals. This process enables researchers to identify the meanings of texts, which can then be seen as a product of interactions between reader, text, and social context (Fairclough, 1995).

By focusing on the varied narratives contained in articles on the 921 Earthquake, this article sought to clarify the overall understanding of both individuals and society as a whole of this historical event. Additionally, following the methodological framework employed by Kitch (2007) in her research on commemorative journalism, this article stressed the language, structure, repetition, binary opposition, themes and temporal pat-terns of journalistic narratives, as well as the associated symbolism in sampled news stories on the 921 Earthquake.

Remembering the 921 Earthquake from two perspectives

In her research on how the past becomes an element of news, Edy (1999: 74) proposed three typologies in which historical events are crucial to news themes. These three typol-ogies include historical analogy, commemoration, and historical context. According to Edy, each of these three typologies has specific implications for ‘the process of collective memory development in the news media’ as well as for people’s memories of the past (1999: 82–3). Edy’s three-typology model provides a useful framework for this article to scrutinize news articles on the 921 Earthquake. Following close examination, it finds that the first two typologies, historical analogies and commemoration, are present, while the third is noticeably missing.

The 921 Earthquake as historical analogy

Historical analogies, according to Edy (1999: 77), provide vehicles ‘to make the past relevant to the present by using a past event as a tool to analyze and predict the outcome

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of a current situation’. Accordingly, past events help define the nature of a current issue, identify its hidden causes, and develop solutions.

Soon after Typhoon Morakot impacted Taiwan on 8 August 2009, articles referencing the 921 Earthquake began appearing, first in the United Daily on 9 August and then in the China Times and the Apple Daily on 10 August. On 11 August, the Liberty Times fol-lowed with similar articles. From 9 to 30 August, references to the 921 Earthquake pro-vided a historical and analogical framework within which journalists produced news stories probing the impact of Typhoon Morakot. Three different types of narratives using this historical analogy were identifiable in media coverage of the 921 Earthquake.

The first type of narrative used the 921 Earthquake as a benchmark to assess govern-ment performance. Premier Liu Chao-shiuan was the first to refer publicly to the 921 Earthquake, doing so during a press conference. Premier Liu said: ‘Having accurate and up-to-the-minute information is crucial in developing effective relief plans.… I learned this from relief efforts during the 921 Earthquake’ (Peng, 2009). The smug tone Liu adopted in delivering these words triggered negative reactions from critics in the media, politics, and military. Many began sharing their personal experiences of the 921 Earthquake relief efforts, while others used historical data to contrast the rapid response of the Lee Deng-Hui government to the earthquake against the slow and inept govern-ment response to Typhoon Morakot. In one editorial, a senior media critic lamented:

When the 921 Earthquake happened in 1999, then-President Lee Deng-Hui rushed to the stricken area.… When he saw victims howling in grief, he couldn’t help crying. What about President Ma? He doesn’t really care about people until he needs their votes. He has no compassion or even emotions. (Yang, 2009)

Letters from newspaper readers drew similar comparisons between the performances of the two presidents. In one such letter, a retired military officer recalled his personal involvement in the 921 Earthquake relief efforts and questioned the government, asking: ‘Why was President Ma reluctant to order army units stationed in northern and central Taiwan to stricken areas to help victims clean and rebuild their homes like President Lee did in the wake of the 921 Earthquake?’ (Chung, 2009). Uncharacteristically, the Liberty Times even went so far as to quote the findings of polls conducted by other media (that is, Wealth Monthly) and noted that 72 percent of Taiwan’s 23 million people found President Ma’s crisis management skills far inferior to those of President Lee (Wang, 2009a).

Using the 921 Earthquake as a benchmark to assess government performance yielded unexpected results. During the first couple days of coverage, the collective memory of the 921 Earthquake and relief efforts seemed highly unified. Particularly, the collective memory unanimously placed then-President Lee Deng-Hui on a pedestal. However, this one-sided perspective was soon challenged. As one former journalist argued:

Many people recalled the efficiency of the 921 Earthquake relief efforts and used them to underscore the incompetence of the Ma administration in responding to Typhoon Morakot. But is it true that the Lee administration did such a good job? I clearly recall that one week after the 921 Earthquake, I wrote an editorial entitled ‘The living have no sleeping bags and the dead have no body bags.’ I am not defending the government’s relief efforts in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, but it is inappropriate to use the 921 Earthquake as a yardstick, because relief efforts at the time were far from perfect. (Wang, 2009b)

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A similar critique by a senior journalist from the Apple Daily mentioned how the Lee administration was severely criticized by the media in 1999 (Yang, 2009).

The different perspectives offered in the media coverage reaffirmed the statement of Edy that ‘historical analogies are open to alternative interpretations’ (1999: 78). The different perspectives further sparked a ‘mnemonic battle’ as different social groups competed to promote the ‘correct’ interpretation of the past (Zerubavel, 1996: 295). Consequently, memories of the 921 Earthquake became contested. The political elite in the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seized the opportunity to inter-pret the 921 Earthquake and ensuing relief efforts in a manner that justified their criti-cism of government performance. The director of the Central Executive Committee of the DPP argued:

A well managed platform is required to receive, organize, accumulate, and distribute relief to affected regions and to truly help victims. If the Ma administration had assumed that responsibility, the situation following Typhoon Morakot would have been less disastrous. (Chung, 2009)

Facing strong criticism, the Ma administration also began to compare Typhoon Morakot with the 921 Earthquake, claiming that Morakot presented a more serious natural disaster than the Lee administration had faced in the 921 Earthquake. In a press conference for local and international media, Premier Liu recalled his involvement in the 921 Earthquake relief efforts, stating: ‘our relief efforts [after Morakot] were not perfect, but I believe we did a better job of crisis management than was done following the 921 Earthquake … at least, that’s my opinion’ (Tsing, 2009). Following the Premier’s statement, the Minister of Transportation and Communication used scientific data to argue that:

While the 921 Earthquake and Typhoon Morakot were both serious natural disasters, their different natures required different kinds of relief efforts and necessitated different response speeds. While the military was able to enter stricken areas immediately after the 921 Earthquake, flooding prevented them from doing the same after Morakot. (Lan, 2009)

By juxtaposing the two natural disasters and presenting logical explanations of the dif-ferent responses, the government attempted to defend its actions and regain public trust.

The second type of narrative cast the 921 Earthquake as a ‘villain’ that destroyed geological structures and precipitated the severe mudslides during Typhoon Morakot. Professor Lee explained:

The damage caused by the typhoon was unavoidable because the 921 Earthquake destroyed both the physical contours and geologic structures of the mountains, thus increasing the risk of mudslides during torrential rains. Even after ten years, most stricken areas remain damaged and will not recover easily. Mudslides are now an inevitability that the government will have to face every year. There are no quick-fix solutions. (China Times, 2009a)

Scientific discourse of this kind regarding geological conditions was employed not only by specialists, but also by laypeople speculating about the cause-and-effect relationships linking the two natural disasters. One letter to the editor saw a relief volunteer express his worries, saying:

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The geology of Taiwan is conducive to mudslides. The 921 Earthquake destroyed much of Taiwan’s geologic structure and also damaged land cover in mountainous regions of central and southern Taiwan. This is why the mudslides triggered by Typhoon Morakot were so severe. The government needs to be more cautious when issuing construction permits or these problems will continue. (China Times, 2009b)

The ‘villain narrative’ merits study, because it represents the long-standing dichotomy between man and nature. Lévi-Strauss contended that both the human mind and human social institutions are based on binary opposition. The dichotomy between culture and nature is a fundamental binary opposition that the human mind has developed for catego-rizing and organizing the external world. Furthermore, the natural world is a cultural construction framed in contrast with humanity, which considers itself civilized, creative, and intelligent. Human beings routinely perceive nature as a symbol of unruly and destructive elements which need to be tamed and transcended (Mascia-Lees and Black, 2000: 70–5). The villain narrative thus is used not only to personify natural disasters, such as the 921 Earthquake, but also represents the perpetual ‘spectacular fight’ and continuous struggle between man and nature (Fry, 2003: 127).

Finally, the third type of narrative cast the 921 Earthquake as a moral allegory in envisioning how victims would find closure to their suffering. Edy (1999: 78) suggested that ‘historical analogies can be constructed so that the outcomes of certain actions in response to the current problem appear predictable’. In other words, when viewing the present using the perspective of the past, a tendency exists to expect past events to recur in the future. In this regard, the media mentioned historical disasters other than the 921 Earthquake faced by Taiwan. As one editorial put it:

Human weakness is particularly evident in the face of natural disasters. Fifty years ago, it was the August 7th Flood. Ten years ago, it was the 921 Earthquake. This time, it was Typhoon Morakot. However, the toughness of the Taiwanese also becomes most visible in the face of severe challenges of this sort. After the 921 Earthquake, many found a new direction in life. For example, some who volunteered to film and document relief efforts discovered a new passion. (United Daily, 2009a)

Other editorials referenced the experience of the 921 Earthquake in discussing the recon-struction schedule and assumed that:

921 taught us the importance of investing time, knowledge, and hard work into the rebuilding of stricken areas. Whether it takes one year, three years, or even five years, we will ‘never forget and never leave.’ This is our commitment to the suffering victims. (United Daily, 2009b)

Still other editorials asked readers to cherish life and maintain a humble attitude. As one senior media critic comments:

We didn’t just witness the disaster or volunteer to rebuild or give a hand to earthquake victims. We died with the dying and found ourselves more alive. Yes, we are still alive and shall never again be arrogant or deceitful; rather, we will be forever humble and grateful. We have to live our lives as survivors who have been given a second chance. (Chang, 2009)

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All the above examples illustrate how the 921 Earthquake was adopted as a moral allegory, reassuring people that their overcoming past difficulties would help them rise to meet future challenges. Notably, moral allegory narratives were invariably introduced by journalists in the form of editorials. Journalists generally seek to produce objective stories based on quoting authoritative sources, rather than offering personal accounts or interpretations. However, in these editorials, by employing the first person to express their ideas, journalists demonstrated their understanding of the ‘dialogical relationship’ between themselves and readers as they stressed their role as cultural authorities repre-senting the voice of ordinary citizens.

During August 2009, the 921 Earthquake of ten years previously served as a historical analogy that journalists used to explain the severe impact of Typhoon Morakot, including in considering whether the government should be held responsible for failing to mitigate the associated damage, and to consider future developments. The 921 Earthquake thus was adopted as a benchmark for assessing government performance, a ‘villain’ exempli-fying and perpetuating the battle between man and nature, and a moral allegory refer-enced in envisioning the closure process for victims. However, these three narratives occurred simultaneously rather than chronologically, and thus collectively formed an inconsistent and even contested grand narrative of the 921 Earthquake. Additionally, while the 921 Earthquake served as a historical analogy, related media discourse did not enable readers to contemplate its historical meaning and relationship with the present. The 921 Earthquake thus served as a mere symbolic marker while its original historical context was completely ignored.

The 921 Earthquake as a commemoration

Disaster anniversaries provide scholars with opportunities to examine the relationships between arbitrarily constructed time intervals and collective memory. Forrest (1993) conducted an interesting case study of this kind by examining how residents from six communities responded to the second anniversary of Hurricane Hugo. Forrest argued that human beings simultaneously inhabit two temporal conditions – physical and social time. While physical time denotes measurable temporal units, such as seconds, minutes, and hours, social time is a cultural construction that people endow with particular social, cultural, and political significance. Moreover, anniversaries, as explicit examples of social time, can be understood as ‘a unique time designation where the past is con-sciously brought forward into the present’ (Forrest, 1993: 445). Because an anniversary is a human construction with a cyclical nature, future anniversaries are fully predictable. Forrest (1993: 454) went on to observe a normative pattern according to which first anni-versaries were typically well recognized and extensively engaged in by a public celebrat-ing the end to destruction and the rebuilding of normalcy, but second and subsequent anniversaries had declining importance and were only observed by those who personally experienced the original disasters. However, despite this declining trend, the importance of anniversaries increased at ‘conventional five-year time periods’, such as the fifth and tenth anniversaries (Forrest, 1993: 448).

Furthermore, by closely examining reporting narratives surrounding the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as presented in numerous news stories and six books, Robinson

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(2009) found that whereas both the national and local press positioned Hurricane Katrina as an event reaffirming the determination and ingenuity of Americans in dealing with disasters, they positioned the event very differently on its anniversary. According to Robinson, the national press viewed New Orleans as a ‘problem child’ with moral issues, and implied that the city should be held responsible for the devastation. The national press also adopted a ‘self-reflexivity’ strategy to promote itself as a witness to the flooding and establish its reporting authority (Robinson, 2009: 244). In implement-ing this strategy, the national press seized the opportunity to divert attention from the lack of reporting on Katrina during the months leading up to the anniversary to reestab-lish its credibility, and drew parallels between Hurricane Katrina and other events to establish a future agenda for the public. In contrast, the local press stressed the memo-ries and grief of individual New Orleans residents and positioned itself as a member of the community, thus simultaneously bearing witness to the devastation and experienc-ing personal loss. Robinson concluded by suggesting that the formation of collective memory is a complex process which must both conform with national ideals and also respond to local interests.

Following the above rationale, the commemorative stories dealing with the tenth anni-versary of the 921 Earthquake provided an opportunity to examine the concept of anniver-saries and their association with the formation of collective memory. Compared with the coverage of the 921 Earthquake which appeared in major newspapers in August, few sto-ries commemorating the tenth anniversary appeared during September. During the lead-up to September 2009, the Liberty Times released its first news article dealing with the event in the 921 Earthquake 10th Anniversary Issue, published 1 September. Immediately after-wards, on 2 September, the China Times carried its Special 10th Anniversary Feature. Although neither the Apple Daily nor the United Daily released commemorative issues, during the anniversary period both carried stories about 921 survivors. The near absence of the tenth anniversary features on the 921 Earthquake in major newspapers may have resulted from the Ma administration canceling all official commemorative events to avoid provoking Morakot victims. This phenomenon could also reflect the normative pattern whereby only the first anniversary receives widespread public attention, and the disaster then gradually fades from the public memory. The next section of this article examines the news articles commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 921 Earthquake in four newspa-pers. It identifies two repetitive narrative techniques employed by journalists: retelling sur-vivor stories and stressing the practical lessons of the 921 experience.

In anniversary coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Robinson (2009: 240) found that ‘retelling individual survival stories was ubiquitous’. This article reached the same con-clusion. Special tenth anniversary features dealing with the 921 Earthquake included personal experiences of several survivors who spoke of being ‘reborn’ and of their ‘lega-cies’. The China Times tracked down Ching-Hong, a small boy rescued after 78 hours spent buried under rubble. The survival of Ching-Hong was miraculous and his rebirth is an inspiring story and was presented as such in the media: ‘We still remember the scene of Ching-Hong being rescued and carried from the rubble by Korean rescuers. Ching-Hong is now 16-years old, 173cm tall, and loves to play basketball’ (Ko, 2009). Ching-Hong’s story was not only personal, but also a symbolic narrative of the rebirth of all survivors and witnesses of the 921 Earthquake. Legacy was another theme in the stories

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of survivors, as indicated in the following example: ‘The youngest survivor of the 921 Earthquake is now ten-years old. He says he wants to be an accomplished chef like his father, so he can make delicious dishes for his grandparents and other relatives’ (Ting, 2009). While the theme of rebirth promised society in general a chance to overcome the grief of the 921 Earthquake, the legacy theme reminded Taiwanese of their treasured and traditional values.

Second, journalists focused on practical lessons derived from the 921 Earthquake, with Puli’s aboriginal Taomi Community the most frequently cited example. The Taomi Community was destroyed in the 921 Earthquake. However, with the help of residents, students, and grassroots organizations, the community has since transformed itself into a popular destination for tourists wanting to explore the ruins left by the disaster, and for researchers interested in how the Taomi have rebuilt their homes and lives (Ho, 2009). The Taomi experience has thus become a practical lesson from the 921 Earthquake, dem-onstrating how ordinary people can achieve the extraordinary.

In September 2009, the 921 Earthquake was commemorated following predictable patterns. While not especially extensive, media coverage helped establish a collective memory of the 921 Earthquake, addressing the hope of rebirth, the legacy of the event, and the power of individuals who had risen to the challenges of the earthquake with crea-tive and practical solutions. Compared to the media discourse on the 921 Earthquake during August, the discourse during September was more unified and largely fitted the template of anniversary journalism.

Conclusion

This article aims to understand the journalistic use of the past and its influence on the for-mation of collective memory of specific historical events. Theoretically, this article builds on the scholarship of journalism and collective memory, and specifically on the three-typology framework of Edy. The analysis found that 921 Earthquake stories closely fit the first two typologies from Edy’s framework – historical analogy and commemoration – while the third was noticeably missing. The findings of this article further demonstrate how representations of the past in the news media are arbitrary and correspond to present needs. Nevertheless, in contrast to previous studies suggesting that anniversaries are the best forum through which various versions of collective memories can compete for recognition, this article found that the predictable and pre-planned nature of anniversaries means that the associated news narratives tend to be formulaic and represent dominant sociocultural values. In this regard, alternative narratives are easily omitted from anniversary coverage because they do not fit an expected story format. Historical analogy, on the other hand, can be more than merely a media template, and provides a discursive space for journalists and readers to negotiate meanings of a past event from the perspective of the present in order to correct erroneous earlier reports.

Narrative analysis underpins the empirical section of this article. In relation to the analogical event (the typhoon) occurring at the start of the first period studied, journalists held up the 921 Earthquake as a benchmark, villain, and moral allegory. Consequently, memories of the 921 Earthquake appeared spontaneously and lacked consistency, while the original historical context was ignored. In the second period studied, the analysis

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notes how in regular commemorative features, journalists delineated and interpreted the 921 Earthquake based on survivor testimonies and the present commemorative events. Through this narrative approach, initially conflicting memories of the 921 Earthquake became more unified and fitted neatly into the template of conventional anniversary journalism. The earthquake was commemorated via a regular template, with narratives mostly emphasizing life stories of survivors, as well as their perseverance and wisdom.

Overall, this article hopes to make two contributions to the literature on both journal-ism and collective memory. First, by presenting two interpretations of a single past event, this article illustrates how the mass media selectively employ the ‘usable past’, and the implications of this for the formation of collective memories of past events. Additionally, since most media-focused memory studies have been limited to western societies, the Asian example presented here contributes to expanding the database of available accounts.

Acknowledgements

A previous version of this paper was presented at the 97th Annual Convention of the National Communication Association, held in San Francisco during November 17- 20, 2010, where it received the Top Paper Award in the Chinese Communication Studies division. The author would like to thank Dr. Carolyn Kitch and Dr. John Lent for their invaluable feedback, and the CHAT program/group at Temple University for its constructive comments.

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