December 18, 2006

In a front-page story in today's Washington Post, Kevin Sullivan, writing from London, explores the impact of so-called Citizen Journalism, concentrating on the prevalence of cameras in the hands of ordinary people.

In his piece, "Regular Folks, Shooting History," Sullivan mentions Watching the World Change:

"Governments have always controlled information, from the Nazis to South American dictators hiding evidence of their 'disappeared' enemies, said David Friend, an editor at Vanity Fair. 'But now the photograph has suddenly changed the equation -- the power is in the hands of the average citizen,' said Friend, whose 2006 book, Watching the World Change, explores the rising power of images. 'Whatever you do now, you will be held accountable. You will be seen.'

"Friend noted that camera-equipped cellphones were not common in the United States at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The historical record of events would have been richer if people in the twin towers or on the hijacked planes had been able to send out photos and video of their ordeal. 'We now have as close to an objective truth about an event as we've ever had in history,' he said."

...And in Time magazine's Person of the Year Issue, on newsstands today, James Poniewozik writes: "On the Web, anyone with a digital camera has the power to change history." He goes on to wonder (as "grassroots Web-watcher" Dan Gillmor did recently and as French journalist Alain Genestar imagined, in a slightly different way, in Watching the World Change): "The cell-phone messages from 9/11 victims were chilling enough; imagine the visuals, had the attacks happened in 2006."