Editing the present for the future: Who gets to decide what we remember?

In a world where information is constantly being organised, prioritised and filtered before it reaches us, how do we construct a public memory that future generations will inherit.

Ntsikelelo Ngaleka is a content producer for Primedia Broadcasting, producing radio content across 702, 947 and CapeTalk.

A young South African wakes up in the morning and reaches for their phone before their feet touch the floor. Within minutes, they have watched a video from an American influencer, laughed at a meme created in Nigeria, listened to a podcast produced in London, argued about politics on X, and consumed news summarised by a TikTok creator they have never met. By the time they arrive at work or university, they feel informed, connected and up to date with the world.

But pause for a moment and ask a simple question: Who decided what appeared on that screen?

Most people believe they are choosing what they consume. We choose who to follow, which videos to watch and which stories to read. Yet every choice takes place within a larger process of selection. Some stories rise to the surface. Others disappear. Some voices become part of a national conversation. Others remain unheard despite saying equally important things. We often imagine that information simply arrives before us. In reality, information is constantly being organised, prioritised and filtered long before it reaches our attention.

This is not necessarily sinister. In fact, it is unavoidable.

Every day, journalists decide which stories will lead a bulletin. Producers decide which interviews make it to air. Editors decide which headlines deserve prominence. Social media platforms decide which content is recommended to millions of users. Even ordinary people do it when they choose one photograph to post and leave the other hundred in their camera roll. The act of selection is built into communication itself.

The idea first crystallised for me earlier this year while speaking to students. In February, I addressed students at the Eduvos Bedfordview campus, and in March I had the opportunity to continue the conversation with Media and Communications students at the University of Johannesburg. The discussion centred on a deceptively simple question: Who gets to decide what we remember?

What became clear during those engagements was that memory is often mistaken for an objective record of events. It is not. Memory is selective. Families remember certain stories and forget others. Communities preserve particular moments and allow others to fade. Nations do exactly the same thing. The media, in all its for