CNN - WILL IRANIAN VIDEO OF WOMAN'S DEATH MARK A TURNING POINT?

WILL IRANIAN VIDEO OF WOMAN'S DEATH MARK A TURNING POINT?

The video of the young Iranian woman bleeding to death after being shot during a demonstration in Tehran has raised the weightiness of "citizen journalism" in the age of the Internet, several publications observed Monday. The video of 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan was taken by a bystander, who emailed it to a friend, who in turn forwarded it to the Voice of America, Britain's Guardian newspaper, and five friends in Europe, along with the message, "Please let the world know." One of those friends posted it online and it was soon televised by CNN. Today's (Tuesday) New York Times commented "Despite a prolonged effort by Iran's government to keep a media lid on the violent events unfolding on the streets, Ms. Agha-Soltan was transformed on the Web from a nameless victim into an icon of the Iranian protest movement." Since then, the newspaper reported, "taking pictures is an increasingly dangerous act in Iran." It noted that police confronted citizens who were trying to take pictures during a memorial to the young victim on Monday.

23/06/2009