technoculture314-09

I was watching CNN’s Ireport, and they had complied all the footage of regular people who had taped the events that occurred on September 11^th. This made me think about our past lecture that we had about the public sphere and how our access to information is drastically changing. Citizen journalism has introduced a different accessibility for news to be presented. Although most of the footage that is submitted is of poor quality, audiences feel a connection to what is exactly happening. One viewer submitted footage on her camera- phone, from an office building that shows the smoke appearing from the World Trade Centers at a distance. Her reaction made it seem surreal verses a controlled news report. This method of social news is rising in popularity and news channels are becoming more dependent on the involvement of the public to deliver the news. It also creates this awareness that when you think someone is not watching you, there is always somebody with a camera. This is true in politics where this past weekend, someone recorded President Obama, referring to Kanye west as an ‘jackass’. This conversation was leaked all over the internet and surfaced into mainstream news. This caused a stir to justify if this type of reference is appropriate for somebody of that stature to make. It puts things into perspective of how technology serves as a way to invade people’s private spaces and how fast it travels into the public medium. I know one instance where my friend found a footage of her on YouTube of her having an argument with some lady on the train. It was completely accidental how she found it, but she contacted the person who had uploaded the video, and asked her to take it down in which the person responded that she has every right to leave that video up as it was in public and recorded on her camera. This raises many questions about our rights in these situations, or was it that the poor judgment of my friend who decided to engage in that argument in public?