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Millions of eyes and ears
July 10, 2005 | 6:11 PM ET
Last week I mentioned the role of ordinary people in sending video from the scenes of the London bombings. That phenomenon produced an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times:
Because tight security prevented news crews from quickly reaching the bombing sites, the cellphone footage was all that was immediately available from underground. Its instant embrace by traditional news networks underscored how an evolving technology can take on new and unexpected roles.
...
"You forget how many people have these phones now and how much more of the first minutes of an event you're going to see," said Chuck Lustig, director of foreign news coverage for ABC.
British television network ITN received dozens of video clips, some by e-mail and others from survivors of the blasts who brought their phones directly to the London newsroom. Some of the video clips were too gruesome too air, according to one senior editor.
This led to an interesting conclusion:
Neil Strother, a Seattle-based analyst who tracks the use of mobile devices for the research firm In-Stat, said the number of cellphones in the U.S. with camera or video capability was expected to grow significantly in the next year as developing technology allowed for higher-quality images and wireless carriers expanded their broadband networks.
"With more and more people carrying cellphones with that kind of function, you're probably going to see a lot more of that amateur news video," Strother said. "It potentially makes everybody a ... journalist."
Yes it does, which is why the notion of special legal privileges for journalists is a silly one. But there's another angle here. Not only news media, but authorities responding to a disaster can benefit from this sort of stuff. London is ringed with police-run security cameras (which notably failed to prevent last week's attacks) but no matter how many cameras you've got there's a lot to be said for having cameras on the scene, wielded by an actual human being. I hope that disaster planners are thinking about how to make use of this capability in the event of future attacks. Having that many eyes at the scene before responders even get there seems as if it would be highly useful, but to take proper advantage it needs to be planned out in advance.
