Reporting history is more than just describing the past. It is about building bridges to the present, uncovering what influences contemporary identities, and examining how history—and the way we narrate it—shapes today’s communities on both micro and macro scales. How then do journalists find topics, verify knowledge, and create content that resonates beyond history enthusiasts? How do grand narratives, including those crafted by leading institutions, influence the language of history in the media? How academic tools can be used outside academia, and where are the tensions between academia and nonfiction?
These were the themes of the seminar AI and History Reporting organized by the Instytut Reportażu and the German Association of Journalists. Twenty journalists from Poland and Germany, who are engaged in historical reporting, whether from local or mainstream media, got a chance to participate in an English-language seminar for journalists, November 21-26, 2024, in Poznań, Poland.
Karolina proposed a short workshop on “How to approach German ghosts? Writing hauntologies”. She started from the point of view that we usually think of ghosts as a handy metaphor or a narrative device. However, is there a way of approaching them using ethnographic or anthropological methods? During the meeting, the attendees learned about hauntology, an alternative ontology, a language of ghosts, and thought together about how it may affect our writing practices.
