The explosions in London last Thursday (7/7/05) have seen citizen journalism in the UK come of age. The London blast saw over 50 people lose their lives, and hundreds were injured and trapped on tube trains.
Today’s Guardian newspaper claims ‘Public provides new dimension to media coverage’ – in which it acknowledges the contribution made to mainstream media coverage by ordinary citizens with mobile phones – taking both still pictures and video.
The article quotes the BBC’s director of news, Helen Boaden, who says:
“Within minutes of the first blast we had received images from the public and we had 50 images within an hour. Now there are thousands. We had a gallery of still photographs from the public online, and they were incredibly powerful.”
In fact the BBC experienced unprecedented traffic to it’s web site as a result of the incident.
The BBC, Sky and ITV news made extensive use of video provided from mobile phones, which was able to capture the scene in the tube trains immediately after the bomb blasts.
The BBC received many still images and a number of videos – some of which were used and can still be accessed online. Boaden added:
“It shows there is a terrific level of trust between the audience and us, creating a more intimate relationship than in the past. It shows a new closeness forming between BBC news and the public. We are into a new world now and each big story that happens confirms that.”
Some of the images were deemed too graphic to show, and so it is evident an editorial process takes place before material is shown – however the public are becoming the eyes and ears of newsgathering organisations.
See also:
BBC London: Mobile Phone Videos Submitted by the Public
BBC London (Jon Gaunt Show): Audio of Eyewitness Accounts
Matt
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