Instant ubiquitous reporting changes everything

By Michael Fraase

Tuesday, 02 September 2008 08:08PM CST

Section: Media

Canon XL H1AIs there a political convention going on in Saint Paul? It doesn’t really matter because the big news coming out of my hometown is that the actions of law enforcement will never again be secret. The way the 2008 Republican National Convention is being covered by the independent, citizen, and participatory journalists has forever changed the way such “events” will be documented.

Cold Snap Legal Collective has been twittering non-stop since the day before the convention started with live updates from all across the city. Their updates serve to actively remotely control itinerant journalists and legal observers, guiding them to the current hot spot.

Julio Ojeda-Zapata has similarly been spot-on with twitter updates for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, albeit with a corporate media bent.

The Uptake has been providing live video feeds from all over the city with about a two-minute delay. The Minnesota Independent continues to update regularly and adroitly. Molly Priesmeyer spent Labor Day embedded with the “anarchists.” And Brian Lambert’s encounter with Karl Rove is just plain hilarious.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this has been that the true, unvarnished, entire reality comes across instead of finely tailored bits and pieces. Because of the decentralization and near-real-time reporting of the journalists, the message can’t be controlled, manipulated, or spun. There’s simply not enough time. Corporate media and law enforcement are just not ready for this level of timeliness, this level of everywhere-all-at-once, and certainly not for this level of scrutiny. My guess is, looking at the output of the local broadcast outlets—with the at least partial exception of the AP (click the HD VIDEO tab)—they still haven’t figured this out.

Because internet-connected cameras are everywhere (as are cameras and internet connections) video of journalist Amy Goodman’s arrest was available minutes after it happened.

Politics will never be the same. Events will never be the same. Media will never be the same. We will never be the same.

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