The WWI centenary is a welcome reminder of journalists' duty to re-examine the past

In the Brexit era, when debates about nationalism, and indeed about militarism, appear to have reached a pitch of righteousness (on both sides), rows about poppy symbolism have themselves become emblematic of broader social divisions

The media is good at anniversaries. They offer an opportunity to reflect on events which were initially the subject of news coverage, to consider how people and places have been affected, and to present well known subjects in fresh ways.

Journalism, in that well worn aphorism, may indeed be the first draft of history. But journalists frequently offer revisions of their initial takes well before historians get their teeth into a subject.

A hundred years on from the end of the First World War, the media’s appetite for remembrance of that disastrous conflict remains strong.