PressEthic

National Public Radio ran a story on Weekend Edition about Kweh Say, an activist who uses a video camera to document - and share with the world - events in Burma that otherwise the world may not know about. He and the group he works with sneak in to capture footage that otherwise may not ever be seen. His efforts have also afforded him the opportunity to be interviewed on NPR and reach a unique American audience. The Burmese government may not listen to him, or NPR, but there are people in our government who do listen. A story that was given some breadth on NPR about the possible mistreatment of soldiers returning from Iraq who claimed to have post-traumatic stress disorder elicited a response from several U.S. Senators and officials at the Department of Defense. So, there is some reach to stories given air on NPR.

This particular activist is risking his life to ensure the story gets out. Technology creates a great amount of room at the margins for the average person, who captures something on their cell phone or in the course of their day, to make that information available to everyone else. Some of the most poignant and indelible images from the planes hitting the twin towers were shot from citizens on the street. People use their cell phone cameras to document damage at a car accident, or to capture images of a celebrity or politician. I forsee a time - now - of mainstream media relying more and more on those images and first-hand accounts of people who were there, at the scene, and who blog about it or have images no one else has.