While newspapers around the world are still struggling to define a sustainable business model, the coverage of the Iranian turmoil is confirming the rise of new media and the power of “citizen journalism.”The new does not necessarily replace the old: The immediacy of opinions offered by anonymous bloggers and short Twitter entries cannot take the place of serious analysis, nor do they offer an alternative to thorough reporting by professional journalists who listen to all sides of an issue.
But the Internet and widespread access to recording technology are clearly changing the way news events are reported. It may even have an impact on the events themselves: Would the protests in Iran have spread as much without the oxygen of international publicity that the video images distributed around the world has given them?
I'm not sure anyone has an answer to this question at this stage, but it is already clear that it will become much harder for governments to silence demands for democratic rights and freedoms.
Images captured by Iranian demonstrators are now being distributed on YouTube -- which, incidentally, is still banned in Turkey. They have also become a tool for traditional television channels, whose own cameramen can no longer film in the streets of Iranian cities.
We had already gotten a glimpse of participatory journalism during the Buddhist protests in Burma. Newscasts suddenly started showing images from a country that is still one of the world's most isolated. The coverage of the current unrest in Iran is confirming the trend.
Governments have long used surveillance cameras and listening devices to keep tabs on their citizens. While law enforcement is usually the main purpose, abuse is rife. What is new, however, is the widespread availability of mobile devices with recording capacity, which is suddenly turning the tables and giving ordinary people the ability to keep track of the actions of security forces. It's a case of citizen David fighting the security Goliath.
Allegations of police brutality have become easier to document. This is something that the Turkish authorities may want to keep in mind since 53 people have died at the hands of the police since a new police law came into force.
The need for more accountability doesn't just apply to controversial elections, as is the case in Iran, or to non-democratic countries. Only a couple of months ago, after a man was killed during the G-20 demonstrations in London, claims by the British police that the man had suffered a heart attack were later disproved by a series of videos that emerged showing the man on the ground being tackled and hit by a policeman. As a result, the policeman responsible was suspended and an inquiry was launched.
The ample availability of footage does not, of course, mean that the protesters in Iran will be successful in reversing the results of the elections. But the images they have provided have given the world a glimpse of the power struggle that is going on in the country and that the government is trying to deny.
Beyond Iran itself, the new trend will undoubtedly raise a lot of questions in media organizations, which will need to adapt. Professional and participatory journalism will probably be seen as complementary to each other in the future.
Already, the change is being acknowledged at the highest level. As Arianna Huffington, one of the most influential figures in the new media movement puts it, “You know that journalism's tectonic plates have shifted when the State Department is asking Twitter to postpone shutting down for scheduled repairs so that the on-the-ground citizen reporting coming out of Iran could continue uninterrupted.”
