Scholars have recognised the Canberra Press Gallery’s capacity to contribute to an inclusive, collective style of political leadership in the context of declining nostalgia for heroes of military conflict. While political leaders have signified supporting journalists in a ‘cooperative search for truth’ about a conflict, the Gallery has influenced these relations as ‘the courageous teller of a truth’. This article examines the media rhetoric and Press Gallery relations of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her identification with US President Barack Obama during the conflict in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013. Gillard connected to Obama’s agenda by arguing, like him, that military sacrifices had been justified because of the need to support marginalised groups, including Afghan women and girls. This article argues that as time went by, Press Gallery journalists increasingly queried and investigated Gillard’s rationale for the conflict. The journalists portrayed their role as public defenders of the ‘truth’ about Australia’s military engagement by including Afghanistan sources countering heroic military narratives.
This article reveals fresh insights into the central, largely unexplored role of journalists as agents of memory for shaping a sense of historical consciousness among public audiences. Journalism has been anchored in the retelling of dramatic stories about heroic characters representing national values. Rüsen (2004) refers to this technique as exemplary narration, which he defines as a type of historical consciousness. This article draws on Rüsen’s theory to provide new views of journalists’ ongoing work in developing the story of an exemplary national hero. Many studies have focused on a single message dominating collective memories. This study shows how journalists helped to create, then disrupt and later reconstruct memories of Australian World War II Prime Minister John Curtin as an example of hope during a major crisis. They developed diverse narratives that portrayed a heroic leader representing national values within the theme of nation building. Recognising exemplary narratives as an ongoing, changing work helps to illuminate journalists’ efforts to orient public views of history that suggest future possibilities.
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