Historical memory as a component of media policy in the context of irredentist conflicts

The article examines the role of historical memory as a key element of media policy in the context of irredentist conflicts. The author analyses the peculiarities of shaping historical narratives by the media and their impact on national identity and public consciousness. It is indicated that media policy takes into account the following sequence of stages of capturing events in historical memory: initial selection of events, initial memorialisation, assessment and selection of significant events, symbolisation of events, and symbolisation. At the first stage, the media select key events from the flow of information, which are transformed into news through the professional activities of journalists. At the next stage, the media carry out ‘primary memorialisation’, when news is recorded as collective memories of specific events. Next, the memorialised news is transformed into components of historical memory through an evaluation procedure involving not only a sufficient number of experts and opinion leaders, but also citizens in public discussion on media platforms. The final stage is symbolisation, when the media regularly return to events, giving them the status of value symbols. It is emphasised that in the context of the information society, social media enhance the dialogical potential of historical memory through comments, reposts and memes. It is proved that an effective media policy should counteract the manipulation of historical facts in the era of post-truth and hybrid threats.