The Digital Age

Almost everywhere we go at any time you might find someone using a social networking site. Either in a computer lab or on their phone social networking is huge. What happens then when a government shuts down media and no longer allows news correspondence into the country to cover protests and violence? Well, we turn to social networking as a way to gather and disseminate information.

In Tehran, where violence and protests have been going on since June, local citizens have been using networks such as twitter and facebook in order to post live video and other information onto the web. The local government in Tehran has closed down all access from outside correspondence and have even kept local media personel contained in their news stations.
When there is a big clash between amatuer journalists and professional journalists this is a big case for why amateur journalism can be a good thing. How else would the world get video information? They wouldn't because they aren't locals with video cameras posting videos on the internet.

News nowadays should be an equal give and take between local non news affiliated citizens and news reporters. Locals are probobly more likely to open up to someone they know who has a video camera than a news reporter who wants to interview them. Also, by locals using social networking sites to display information there is non to little editing taking place from time of creation until posting. By not going through traditional means to display the news there is also not a bias as to what is shown and what wouldn't be shown. As we know reporting is supposed to show an unbiased side of an event, however we know that some news stations do edit their media for content and to maintain time limits. When locals film things such as what is happening in Tehran we see hard unedited footage of the life as a person living in these troubled areas.