[thechat] the internet war?

[isaac]

> Surely all it takes is one guy/gal with a digicam, laptop, satellite phone
> and a steely resolve to get pictures out ... look at CNN's Nic
> Robertson and
> Alfredo DeLara (reporter and producer respectively), armed with a
> videophone, still getting pictures out for broadcast.  If they can do it
> with 'old' media, how much simpler must it be for 'new' media?  Even if
> net.access was unavailable, who's to say CF cards couldn't be smuggled out
> with photos and copy on board, for easy upload from a neighbouring state?
> Perhaps guerilla journalism is about to come of age.

I don't think it's that likely.

I know many people with a camera who could lean out the window or take
photos from the doorway below if a building down the road exploded.

But who do you know that can afford to dump their job temporarily, risk
their life to fly over to Afghanistan, get into the action, and then get the
info back out onto their personal weblog? You lose $x00 per week in pay,
$x000 for the flights, accommodation costs, etc. You risk having hands
severed, or being executed for breaking Taliban laws, or violence against
anyone of Western appearance. And all of that in exchange for /. linking to
your site, crushing your server, and running up hundreds of dollars in data
costs.

The journalists you've mentioned are likely funded by mainstream media
companies (like CNN) and supported by networks of contacts. I don't expect
guerilla journalism to play a significant role in what will occur in
Afghanistan.


isaac