Citizen Journalism and the Rise of “Mass Self-Communication”:

Reporting the London Bombingsby Stuart Allan

Qingqing ZHANG

Mass Self-Communication is defined as “the diffusion of internet, mobile communication, digital media, and a variety of tools of social software has prompted the development of horizontal networks of interactive communication that connect local and global in chosen time”.

the London bombing of July 2005

On the morning of July 7 2005, four ‘suicide bombers’ donated their explosive devices on three London Underground trains and a bus in the centre of the city, killing themselves and 52

other people, and injuring over 700 others.

• Eyewitnesses were able to capture the scenes using their mobile phones.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4660000/newsid_4663200/4663207.stm?bw=nb&mp=rm&news=1&bbcws=1

• People were sending images and videos within minutes of the first explosion, before the mainstream media even knew there was a bomb.

Why people feel the need to record the bombings

• They get used to creating pictures and videos on their phones in normal life.

• They happened to be there and they are involved in this world event.

• Some of individuals thought they were going to be late for work and wanted something to show their boss.

• Very few of them thought themselves as journalists. (different to citizen journalists)

BBC News – London Explosions: Your accounts

• BBC News was amongst the first to break the news online.

• BBC News has created spaces for ordinary citizens to bear witness.

• It has received more than 1000 pictures, 20 pieces of amateur video, 4000 text messages and around 20000 emails in the first hour of the explosion.

Implications

• This is the first time mobile phone images have been used in such large numbers to cover a national event.

• It shows how this technology can transform the news-gathering process. It provides access to eyewitness images at the touch of a button, speeding up the reaction time of main stream media to major breaking stories.

Passengers are led through the tunnels to safety.

Smoke filled the carriage that Matt Dunn was travelling in.

Passengers leaving Bayswater Station.

Ade Oshungboye:” I was on a bus in front of the one that exploded. All of a sudden I heard a noise and passengers started shouting and trying to get out. I saw a lady with her clothes torn off and a body lying on the floor.”

Why do you think some photos and videos taken by mobile phones which are not of good quality, but can be more effective and powerful as images than the superior quality of professional cameras

Risk 1One concerned the need to attest to the accuracy of the image, in case of potential of hoaxes being perpetrated.•Ensure that the image had not been digitally manipulated or doctored so as to enhance its news value•Attest to the source in a straightforward manner (this photo by XXX)

Risk 2

A further risk is that rights to the image may be owned by someone else, which will raise potential problems with respect to the legality of permission to use it.•Trust is the central issue where gathering material from citizen journalists is concerned.•People trusted the BBC to treat the information respectfully and, where appropriate, to pass it on to the police.

Ethical considerations

“I find it astonishing – not to say macabre – that virtually the first thing a lay person would do after escaping injury in an explosion in which dozens of other human beings are killed or maimed, is to film or photograph the scene and then relay it to a broadcasting organization.”

-- John Naughton, writing in the Observer newspaper

The issue of taking photos and videos of victims who are at their most vulnerable and posting them to the web

• Do you think it is OK to use your phone to take pictures of people in public and post it to the web for anyone to see?

• Do you think it is OK to photograph victims of crimes – when they are their most vulnerable? Is it OK to post them to the web? What are the benefits and drawbacks of doing so?