iraq

Saudi Crackdown on Camera Phones: July 20, 2004

"Camera phones are already illegal in the kingdom, but until now they have been tolerated by the authorities. [...] People have been buying phones as quickly as possible because they think they are going to be taken from the shops. The Ministry of Commerce and other relevant departments are currently devising new measures to stop camera phones being used to invade people's privacy, the Arab News newspaper has reported. [...] phones are also being confiscated at airports and from guests attending weddings."
[BBC]

"Iraq Blog Count" Site Lists Over 60 Weblogs in Iran: July, 2004

Quite a substantial list at the site, including soldier blogs. Navigate from the links on the right.
[Iraq Blog Count]

Soldier Personal Videocam Commentary in CBS News Report: Date Unknown

This link was forwarded to Camera/Iraq without reference to its original context. It is posted on CBS News.com and is part of a Dan Rather report. It presents personal videocam footage—forbidden by the military—by a soldier who discusses her experience and attitudes with Rather. [Please forward additional info to Camera/Iraq]

[CBS News—RealAudio]

Khurram Saeed: "Photos of Contrition": July 13, 2004

"The faces in the 100 photographs are solemn. There are people of various faiths, cultures and ages. They hold handwritten signs with messages of peace and contrition addressed to the people of Iraq. [...] These ordinary Americans, from Alaska to Florida, Massachusetts to New Mexico, are taking part in a project meant to bridge the distance between two cultures half a world apart. Developed by the Upper Nyack-based Fellowship of Reconciliation after the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal in May, the Iraq Photo Project's goal is to collect photos from regular people who want to convey their feelings directly to Iraqis. While some of the signs in photos apologize specifically for the actions at Abu Ghraib, others use the opportunity to express regret for the invasion and occupation. [...] Hossein Alizadeh, coordinator of the Iraq Photo Project, said he would attempt to get the images on Arab TV channels and in Arab newspapers so they could reach Iraqis and other Muslims."
[New York News]
[IRAQ Photo Project]

Deborah Fallows & Lee Rainie: "The Internet as a Unique News Source": July 8, 2004

"During some of the most turbulent weeks of the Iraq war nearly one quarter of Internet users (24%) went online to view some of most graphic war images that were deemed too gruesome or horrific for newspapers and television to display. Further, of those who have seen the images, 28% actively sought them out. Overall, however, Americans are conflicted about the idea of these disturbing images being available online. By a 49%-40% margin, Americans disapprove of the posting of such images. A strong cultural divide emerges between Internet users and non-users: Internet users approve of the images being online by a small margin of 47% - 44%, while non-users disapprove by an overwhelming 58% - 29% margin. These are some of the results of a nationwide phone survey done between May 14 and June 17 - a period just following massive world coverage of the murder and dismemberment of American contract workers in Iraq's strife-torn town Fallujah, pictures taken at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and the capture and beheading of U.S. civilian Nicholas Berg. The horrific nature of many of the war-related images that have appeared online have left Internet users with a range of feelings. The data show that millions of Internet users want to be able to view the graphic war images and they see the Internet as an alternative source of news and information from traditional media. But many who do venture outside the traditional and familiar standards of the mainstream news organizations to look at the images online end up feeling very uncomfortable. Women are particularly opposed to the display of the images and are much less likely than men to have viewed the images online."
[Pew Internet & American Life Project]
[Report in PDF format]

Pedro Meyer: "Icons Of This War...": May 23, 2004

"I don't think it's too far fetched to assume that the main icons of this second US war in Iraq in 2004, still in process, will be the amateur digital pictures of the tortures performed on Iraqui detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. [...] digital cameras became for the Bush administration what the tape recorder was for the Nixon White House [...] If the most emblematic images from this war were photographed by amateurs, if agencies are able to send out people to take photographs who have never taken pictures, but have access to certain places, and if we are into a tidal wave of imagery coming in from all the digital cameras that are flooding the world; I am sure that traditional photojournalism as is being taught today in schools all over the world, better have a second look at reality and be prepared to tell their students that things are no longer how they used to be and therefore need to adjust their expectations."
[Zone|Zero Editorial]

Christopher Allbritton: First Reader-Funded Journalist-Blogger

Allbritton is a former AP and New York Daily News reporter. Now he is the web's "first fully reader-funded journalist-blogger, making regular word and image posts to his weblog."
[Back to Iraq]

Mark Glaser: "Back to Iraq 3: "Blogger-Journo Balances Dual Role in War Zone": July 7, 2004
Good backgrounder and report on Allbritton's current work.[Online Journalism Review]

Jin Hyun-joo: "Korea: Kim's Execution Video Banned": June 24, 2004

"The government and Internet portal sites said yesterday they would take stern measures against the possible spread on the Internet of the video showing the beheading of the Korean hostage. [...] Yahoo Korea: "Considering Korean people's condolences toward the deceased, we are going to delete any pictures or video footage that show the killing of the Korean hostage...As the beheading of the hostage was not aired, it is less likely that the footage would proliferate on the Internet as it did in the Nicholas Berg case." [...] With its emergency monitoring system running for 24 hours, the Ministry of Information and Communication said it would advise Web sites to get rid of the clips as soon as they discovered them. "The Web sites that fail to follow through the instructions will be subject to shut-down or police investigation," an official at the ministry said."
[Asia Media]

Vaughn Ververs: "Opening the Internet Floodgates": June, 2004

"The message from news consumers to the traditional news outlets, from the daily papers to the cable news channels and the Big Three networks, is becoming increasingly clear: "If you don't deliver what we want, we'll find it elsewhere. Ignore us at your own risk." This isn't a new message, but it's one that poses a growing risk that consumers will go elsewhere -- and not return. [...] The point isn't so much what is proper but what is available. Despite the awareness the mainstream press has of the Internet, talk radio and even e-mail, traditional media outlets have yet to grasp a simple fact of today's information landscape: They are no longer the prime gatekeepers of news. No longer can we say that if it's not in the New York Times or on "CBS Evening News," a story does not matter. When information is out there now, it's out there. Not only is it easier to find, it also can be spread instantly with a click of the mouse or a read on a radio show. To ignore what millions have heard is arrogant at best, harmful at worst. [...] Instead of acting as gatekeepers, the traditional press should become the ratifiers of news. Take on those rumors and prove them to be without merit. Show those pictures and give the consumer the kind of context that isn't so prevalent on the Internet. Get out in front and lead the way on some of these stories -- and before long, the buzz will be that what's energizing the Internet is old news. [...] Journalists who choose not to cover a story simply because "those who wish to view such things can find them on the Internet" are risking their own demise. Once "such things" are found, the people who sought them may never come back."
[National Journal]

Video-blogging Will Sharpen the Debate

"These events were recorded by participants or bystanders. The images were posted on the internet, making them directly, freely and immediately accessible around the world. In other words, journalists played no part in recording or interpreting the images. No editors intervened, government censors and spin doctors were impotent. According to Steve Vines, publisher of a Hong Kong weekly news and political satire magazine, Spike "the main barriers to publishing - cost and geography - have vanished and the result is explosive...unfiltered, uncensored images are now starting to drive the menu of the mainstream news oulets. After Web-logging became a news source for conventional media after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the next step, "Vblogging," will enable those with a desire and a little technology the chance to write, shoot, edit and distribute video journalism on their own, even from the field," forbes.com, the website of Forbes magazine, says. So the challenge to traditional journalism as the determinant of what is news and how news should be filtered will only intensify. And the debate about whether undigested news is objective, useful and moral is bound to sharpen."
[Mail & Guardian - Via Smart Mobs]