The students of CS400H are not the only ones talking about the significance of citizen media. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair knows better than anyone how powerful citizen media is when it comes to politics. For Blair, this was especially evident during the war in Iraq. He looks back at the Gulf War, a time when media had restricted access to live footage of the war. However, today we see things have changed. He refers to citizens as having a “transformative role” in reporting world issues.
With citizen media giving an unmediated reality of war political agendas can be interfered. Surely, there were many images and video footage that several governmental officials did not appreciate being put out for public viewing.
LiveLeak.com is a website that citizens and politicians alike have become acquainted with. It’s a site where citizens upload their own personal footage of an event or situation relevant to world issues.
This raises question to how powerful ordinary citizens have on the ideologies of the world. I think the War in Iraq is a prime example of this. President Bush and his allies did everything in their power to convince the world that this war was justified still many were able to prove otherwise. So the question stands, does technology today give citizens the potential to be more powerful than politicians? Do citizen media pose as a threat to politicians? I would think so.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/podsandblogs/2007/01/blair_talks_about_citizen_medi.shtml
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