<nettime> soldier-journalists

[sam-myspinach <sam@myspinach.org>]

Hi,

The ICT for Development or ICT for Peace are definitely overshadowed  
by ICT for War, and it seems that even though soldiers with cameras  
helped expose the Abu Ghraib abuses - cameras are still part of the  
toolkit the men and women with guns carry with them.

Recently I came across "Why Afghanistan Matters" - a project that aims  
to "promote transparency by empowering those who have seen the  
situation in Afghanistan first-hand to explain why the work we are  
collectively doing there is so important." ... That line could apply  
to citizen journalists or any other context where there is an  
assumption that telling (true) stories helps change/shape/reinforce  
attitudes and ways of thinking.

It's worth looking at http://contest.afghanistanmatters.com/ and even  
viewing some of the videos (http://contest.afghanistanmatters.com/?page_id=104 
) that have been produced by the “boots on the ground” ... The guys  
with the guns even use open source CMSs - wordpress in this case!

With 'unjust' wars continuing and the recent failure of the COP15 -  
those who advocate independent media (as well as the power of net  
cultures, yesmen, avaaz, NGOs, etc...) need to become even more  
'creative' about the advocacy role that media or art or media-art can  
play. The power of 'we' was ineffective during the build up to 2003  
invasion of Iraq - maybe it's time to return to wanting to become BIG  
media with a BIG voice that can command Governments - bypassing the  
people and their public opinions...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Best, Sam :-)


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