No Boundaries

Pavlik describes many variations on digital media and how we as the people are contributing. People are adding to the news content as the on the spot de facto reporter. Many news companies have recognized this and actually encourage it as they will have firsthand accounts and that matters in the accuracy of reporting. This ability to capture news as it happens has crossed not only visual barriers but international barriers as well. Two examples of this are the death of Neda Aga Sotan a Persian student gunned down during the election protest in 2009 that sparked a firestorm of protest from the world . Her death was videotaped thru a camera phone as was much of the unrest at the time due to the Iran’s shutdown of news to the outside world. Still many camera phones uploaded content from that unrest and CNN used it daily during that time. During the overthrow of President Mubarik in Egypt Local and even international news coverage was literally stopped cold as that government blocked what was being seen and heard. Yet the personal videos and tweets still were able to get out showing graphic images of what was happening within that country. These are just examples of how people on the scene are able to capture video, upload, and disperse content be it graphic or informative to the world. Those who have a story to tell have the tools, literally in hand, to disperse it around the world.