Glad to point you to a post by Dan Gilmore (and interesting discussion that follows) about the use of citizen video from the Republican National Convention and it's use to debunk charges that resulted in the arrest of protesters.
Gilmore's post is driven by a page 1 story in yesterday's NY Times.
interestingly, i was there - with a camera - and working with 8 other filmmakers covering the RNC. I thought that what we recorded was extraordinary. A huge police presence. Orange snow fencing used to net up people like a school of fish. And a lifting of liberties unlike anything i'd ever seen. But the media seemed uninterested. We had tape from inside protest groups, planning meetings, public protests, and what i thought was significant.
No one from either film or TV was the least bit interested. Said it was not interesting to see police doing their jobs and a few 'hairy protesters skin their knees' to quote one enlightened exec.
Now it seems that footage will come in useful - since it tells a very different story than the one the police were telling to back up the mass arrests.
interesting development.
