Memories from Above is a collection of reports and analyses investigating the geographical aspects of how memories of events are portrayed and perceived within the realm of news media.

In today’s digitally networked world, news spreads at lightning speed. It is often difficult to distinguish between fake and truth, facts and fiction. The flood of images, videos, reports, and speculation can easily lead to confusion or misinterpretation. Amidst this flux, the quest for reliable methods to uncovering the »truth« and gain clear perspectives on events has never been more critical.

Based on the assumption that eyewitness reports create an echo on the Internet during an event, Open Source Research, often referred to as OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence), examines all data points that are part of this echo to reconstruct the actual incident – the digital imprint of real events.

Through forensic techniques, remote sensing, and geolocation, these practices have become established among open-source researchers and journalistic practices to verify events. These shifts influence how news events are reported and, vice versa, how we perceive these events through news coverage. These technologies determine what we see and how we see it – and, last but not least, how we remember it.

Consequently, the world we encounter through our screens becomes a metaphorical »Memoryscape« – a space composed of the countless images and reports we experience daily through news coverage. This complexity results from news media in different countries focusing on other stories through various decisions, taking place in specific locations and presented from different perspectives. The result is a fragmented collage-like narrative of world events, highlighting the disparate ways in which news is curated and communicated.

By investigating this phenomenon, news broadcasts from the G20 nations were examined based on events that attracted global media attention and whose images left lasting impression in our collective memory. Within a co-pilot approach, a digital tool, »Memoryscriber« was developed that uses ChatGPT, geolocation, and remote sensing techniques to support the analysis of news videos and their geographical origin.

As a result, a series of 60 images has been created to visually document this coverage from a bird’ s-eye view. These Memoryscapes act as visual archives that narrate events in news reports. They provide a unique perspective, allowing viewers to experience the media viewpoints from various countries. Through these Memoryscapes, this study chronicles how global events are visually represented and provides a critical platform for viewers to engage with and reflect on the distinct perspectives and biases inherent in individual media representations.

Memoryscapes Series I
COVID-19 tragedy in Bergamo
March 19, 2020

01 – Italy
RAI – TG1

02 – Germany
ARD – Tagesschau

03 – Saudi Arabia
Al Saudiya – Main News
Memoryscapes Series II
Floods in Europe
July 15, 2021

01 – Germany
ARD – Tagesschau

02 – France
France 2 – Journal 20h00

03 – Turkey
Fox – Ana Haber
Memoryscapes Series III
Russian invasion of Ukraine
February 24, 2022

01 – Russia
Perwy kanal – Vremya

02 – USA
ABC – World News Tonight with David Muir

03 – China
CCTV – Xinwen Lianbo