For Stokes, her tapes served as the best protection against this uncertainty. By preserving broadcasts in their original form, she created a permanent reference point. People would always have a way to look back and verify what had actually been said and shown, rather than relying entirely on later interpretations or rewritten narratives.
To a large extent, she anticipated the confusion that defines today’s media landscape. Her archive was not only meant to preserve history, but also to protect its integrity. She understood that truth is shaped not only by events themselves, but also by the way those events are presented to the public.
With Marion Stokes’ passing in 2012, that gigantic mountain of tapes could very well have ended up buried in a landfill somewhere, or been left totally forgotten. The scale of the collection made its preservation an enormous logistical nightmare, and it would take an almost unbelievable amount of effort to save it from oblivion.
Fortunately, all of her years of hard work did not go down with her into the grave. The Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library dedicated to the preservation of human knowledge, understood exactly what they were getting themselves into when they began their monumental undertaking.
It was extremely tough and challenging work. Each and every VHS video had to be digitized, logged, and entered into a searchable digital database. Digitizing decades of non-stop TV required massive expertise and a serious long-term commitment. The result is a truly remarkable and unique source of information. What began as the passionate hobby of a single woman has become a valuable resource for journalists, scholars, historians, and all people interested in how media spin develops through time. This project proves that one person really can make a dent in this world.
The concept of “fake news” seems to be everywhere in today’s media environment, mostly as a tool of aggression. News spreads very fast nowadays, particularly via social media, which makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between fact and misinformation, bias, or outright manipulation.
The Stokes archive provides something unique in the contemporary world – receipts. By accessing original broadcasts, individuals can skip any modern interpretation and look at things precisely the way they were portrayed at that particular time.
The Stokes archive provides something unique in the contemporary world – receipts. By accessing original broadcasts, individuals can skip any modern interpretation and look at things precisely the way they were portrayed at that particular time.
Moreover, the example set by Stokes makes us reconsider how we consume media ourselves in the modern age. We have become accustomed to consuming media in small doses, through the means of short videos or click-bait headlines. These forms may make consumption easier, but they lack critical context. The ability to see the complete and unfiltered picture is what enables us to create a comprehensive worldview.
With a world full of digital information that can be edited or removed in mere seconds, the use of analog tapes provides Stokes’ work with a sense of longevity. It serves as a reminder that information cannot simply be preserved; it must also be safeguarded.
The life of Marion Stokes was mainly spent out of the spotlight. For anyone looking from outside, her constant and round-the-clock recording could easily be considered strange and hard to explain. However, in retrospect, the genius of her efforts is now quite obvious.
What she created has proven to be a valuable instrument for self-reflection and research. Through the help of her archive, we can view our past in great detail and learn about the process of narrative construction. Thus, we can gain insight into the complex relationship between media, memory, and public belief.
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