Exploring digital yesterdays - reflections on new media and the future of communication history

Abstract

"This paper emanates from the consideration that communication history cannot only focus on communication that is within today's past but must also to cope with challenges communication history will face in 'tomorrow's yesterdays'. In nowadays perspective, apparent challenges for the future of communication historiography are posed by the impact of (now) new media technologies and digitalization. The article reflects about different shifts digitalization may bring for communication historiography, in terms of digital media as sources and the impact of digital communication on the understanding of temporal and spatial relations in communication historiography. Doing so, the paper discusses from a communication studies perspective if 'new media' history likewise entails a new 'media history'. The article concludes that digital media will prompt communication historians to adapt to new conditions. Such adaption to the respective 'new' is depicted as constituent of historical research as communication history has ever been kind of change management." (author's abstract)