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Mobile Citizen Journalism
(Business & Finance Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mobile Citizen Journalism
The humble mobile phone is changing the face of news reporting and broadcasting as we know it.
Max Kelly reports.
Journalists and manufacturers of writing implements are just two groups who are rather fond of the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword".
The lineage of this saying is debatable, claimed as both an utterance of Edward Lytton Butler and an ancient Arab expression.
And so it is back in the Arab world where the challenge to this democratic shibboleth has arisen:
Iraq, and the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The impact of this event has not, however, been conveyed through the power of penned ink; rather the moving image has been relayed around the world through use of the mobile phone.
That the last moments of the "Butcher of Baghdad" were surreptitiously filmed on reportedly two video phones, including the words of derision issued by his final guardians, lends weight to the argument that these ubiquitous pieces of handheld (or pocket-hidden) equipment are now near omnipresent, even on the scaffold. Indeed, where once men from around the world fastened a leather scabbard to their belt, there how hangs a nylon case to sheath a cellphone.
The fact that these clips were almost immediately uploaded onto the internet, picked up by TV channels and transmitted to a riveted world shows how mobile devices have become the ultimate news-gathering tool and agenda-setting device.
Indeed, many headline writers throughout the world concentrated on the who, what and why of whoever smuggled in the mobile phones to record the last seconds of Saddam, rather than the nature of the more pertinent story of Saddam's judicial killing itself.
In fact, the footage of Saddam falling sickeningly through the trap door has acted more as a reminder of the power and reach of the mobile-phone-wielding observer when set against the impotence of carefully managed propaganda. This may be evidenced by the difference between the officially sanctioned video of the execution and the mobile clip.
But is it the device or what it captures that is important? Just before Christmas, many people watched stand-up comedian Michael Richards (Kramer from TV sitcom Seinfeld) on mobile footage uploaded onto video-sharing website YouTube as he disgraced himself with racist rantings, even as his protesting audience filed past the grainy camera to the exits.
Thousands of clips of warfare in the Middle East shot by young Americans in uniform in Iraq, or British soldiers in Afghanistan, are being swapped around the neighbourhoods of their home towns - arguably more accurate depictions of their experiences than footage recorded by reporters, who are usually one step behind the troops in a war zone.
The damning images of inmate abuse at Abu Ghraib prison were captured by participants with their privately owned cameras and phones, and the gruesome beheadings perpetrated by murderous militias in the Gulf and southern Asia became instances of performance violence when recorded and transmitted by cheap, easy-to-obtain and relatively difficult-to-track video phones.
"Ordinary people have been witnesses to major events from time immemorial, but today the difference is that technology has increased the speed at which news is reported," says the head of Sky News, John Ryley.
"It took six weeks to get reports of the battle of Trafalgar back to newspapers. Today, if a witness captures something on their video it can be broadcast to the world very quickly indeed."
If it takes anywhere between 30 minutes and six hours to get a camera crew to an unfolding event, but only minutes to receive and broadcast mobile phone footage from in situ nonjournalists, then editors of the instant news age are increasingly likely to welcome technologically enabled "citizen journalists".
Ryley believes the prevalence of mobile phones has not only changed the news-gathering business, but also the nature of politics and even emergency planning. "It puts an increased pressure on politicians and emergency services to react as people see events broadcast as they unfold," he says.
At the same time though, newsrooms have to be sharp to spot potential hoaxes. Ryley admits Sky has been caught out - most recently during the summer when it broadcast pictures of a second whale stranded in the River Thames which didn't exist. "A camera lies, whatever its format," he says.
As of last week, around nine million downloads of Saddam's death had been accessed courtesy of websites such as YouTube and Google Video - sites which are already full of images of appalling violence captured on mobiles.
It would be easy to react with knee-jerk denunciation of the camera phone as fuelling the worst of modern society's voyeuristic desires, but this would accomplish little, not least towards stopping the violence which goes on regardless. The still relatively new phenomenon of muggings and beatings perpetrated just for the thrill of filming them - so called "happy slapping" as exemplified in Dublin's Ballymun late last year - will continue. With two-thirds of mobile phones shipped last year equipped with cameras, and mobile penetration in Ireland around 104%, it's logical to expect more to come.
Max Kelly [max@enn.ie] is a staff writer for ENN.ie Tech, media firms strong growth Business activity in the technology, media and telecoms sector remains strong, with firms in the area recording the sharpest growth among service providers in December, writes Charlie Taylor.
That's according to the latest NCB Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The data reveals that activity at technology, media and telecoms firms increased at the sharpest pace for 13 months in December.
The business activity index shows the sector at 65.4 points, up from 58.2 in November and ahead of activity in the financial services, business services and transport, travel, tourism and leisure sectors.
The index shows that the degree of confidence among firms in the sector rose from 76.9 in November to 80.5 in December.
R&D critical to Ireland's growth
R&D will be key to economic growth in 2007, according to ICT Ireland, writes Maxim Kelly. The prediction came in a statement from the Ibec affiliate responding to the IDA's review of the previous year's economic activity, which shows R&D investments totalling Eur 469m were made in 2006. Just over 70 multinational investment projects were facilitated by the IDA over the 12 months, more than half of which included important information and communication technology aspects, according to ICT Ireland.
"Growth is taking place at the high end of the value chain," said ICTI's Hannah Grene. "If we compare year-on-year from 2004, while the number of projects overall has remained stable, the number of research and development projects has increased from 36 in 2004 to 54 in 2006. In the same period, total R&D investment has more than tripled."
HSE slams online hospital rankings
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has dismissed a new website rating Irish hospitals as "without validation" and lacking in authority, writes Ciara O'Brien. Patients now have the chance to rate their experience of Irish healthcare on the site, Ratemyhospital.ie. Managed by Irishhealth.com, the website was launched in September 2006 and has been compiling votes and comments from patients on their experiences of Irish hospitals. The site is designed to increase transparency in the healthcare system, according to Irishhealth.com editor Niall Hunter.
"What we do is a rolling opinion survey," he explained. The HSE said it was aware of the site's existence but insisted its own complaints procedure was an adequate vehicle to stimulate change.
Public sector IT spend to rise in 2007
IT consolidation is expected to drive global IT investment in the Government sector in 2007, according to new research, reports Ciara O'Brien.
The report from IDC's Government Insights also predicts the standardisation of IT will heavily influence investment. The research indicates the trend will be driven by the desire to reduce operational costs, improve service delivery and therefore increase Government value. Other predictions posit that information-sharing and interoperability will drive improved Government service delivery, while generating a demand for new business and decision-making models that will help maximise the value of IT.
New procurement models and strategic sourcing strategies will also be created by governments, as collaborative business processes influence public bodies and how they work. ebusiness news supplied by ENN.
Copyright 2007 Belenos Publications Ltd Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.
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