How Video changes the conversation

Some of you may have read how a recent California student was tasered
by security guards
lets see how the story plays out.

Read the Text: 
"UCLA Officer Shocks Student With Stun Gun
A UCLA police officer shocked a student with a stun gun at a campus
library after he refused repeated requests to show student
identification and wouldn't leave, police said. The student, Mostafa
Tabatabainejad, was shocked Tuesday at about 11 p.m. as police did a
routine check of student IDs at the University of California , Los
Angeles Powell Library computer lab."

Now watch the video.

Text is extremely important because it allows us to discuss the
depth and subtleties of a story.

But just watch the video taken by a fellow student using her
videophone and uploaded to the web. The video shows the real drama behind the incident that usually gets washed over in text stories. Now everything changes.

Comments

[mike]

Yeah... I watched this video off the yahoo! group - it really, really pissed me off.

[Chris Ritke]

You're damn right.

[Lisa]

Do you not think this has more to do with the contrast between an uncomprehensive text account and an *unedited* video? What I mean is, not necessarily to do with the limitations of text itself. A video could also have been edited as restrictively as the text was and made the videoed story seem v different. Although I'm sure in this case we saw the truth of the story on the video, I'm not really certain it's the best example of the comprehensiveness of video versus the inadequacy of text. They could have given a good account of what happened in text, but for whatever reason, they didn't, and for those same reasons would probably never show an unedited version of the video either.

... - My 2 cents ...

[jay dedman]

I agree Lisa that a well-researched article can often be much more effective than a raw video clip. Text stories are so important.

But look how a video clip, recorded and uploaded by a citizen, is pushing the traditional media to cover a story that would have been washed over.
Longer, detailed stories would not be written if this video did not exist.

We all know the usual situation.
Something happens.
It's becomes he said/she said. Words are used by both sides to cover and spin the event. Long court cases are necessary to weave stories that must convince a judge or jury. False information is so easy to create and so difficult to refute. In the end, no one ever really knows what happened.

But this one raw video so easily shared brings the whole process to a new level. Now we all start from the same place. Now we all agree on what happened...and can only argue the circumstances.

[Baird]

You are sooo right Jay.
I've searched blogs and mainstream media on this... Reading the interesting and not unexpected claims by the University Admin and Police have added to the conversation "He tried to rally the students" etc...

Some of those defensive counter-claims made were obvious spin/lies/(call it what you want) when you watch the video while reading them.

Even reading right-wing, left-wing, middle of the road opinions in the blogesphere with that video running in the background changes the conversation for me.

Funny... while the finger pointing, opinions about authority, the passing the buck on who governs tazer safety, justifiable usage, As well as the questions and accusations of Racism based on fear driven bullshit thats been peddled around the world the last five years or so does its rounds in the Blogosphere and Big media. I noticed something missing...

I haven't found one thing in "the conversation" that INSTANTLY popped into my head (I still have to search for video responses that may be along the lines of what I'm thinking)

Its a computer lab....

Look up the students name, see his picture, "Sorry for disturbing your studies sir, Please try to remember your card next time, have a nice night" End of frickin story.

I wish I or somebody else there had pointed that out at the beginning..
Then given him shit for it...

Why not use common sense as procedure?

In fact,what the hell is wrong with asking everyone to produce their cards at the time when the lab is reserved for a specific group and looking up students who may have lost or forgotten their cards on the computers.

Not some some random check that could trigger something as stupid as this.

Then again, the kid had to make a stand against something that shouldn't be happening to anyone anywhere. Using excessive knee-jerk force to oppress somebody who is obviously has a possible muslim background in a consistently politically charged University atmosphere is just plain ol stupid.

I hope that this in some way can be turned into some positive change.
The fact that the students instinctively surged forward during the third tazering after the the initial group shock wore off gives me hope. That and the student who captured it all on her phone. Spin control ain't what it used to be... Thank god for the internet.

Cripes! I gotta set up a videoblog already. That was the longest comment I've ever made. Sorry Jay, cut it down if ya gotta.

And in response to Lisa, May I suggest taking Jay's example a step further like I did. Try cropping down your Web application to the video on Jay's page, then open a new window and google Mostafa Tabatabainejad. Keep running the video while you read. (I also noticed the audio gets easier understand after repeating a few times)
The captured moment and the resulting reactions and information online over time has fleshed out the process in which society plays out.The video also helped me filter out the spin/bullshit. Its still subjective how we each look at this moment. But I think raw cuts will be king in this form of reporting. It will be the closest way to actually being there to witness it.Then filling in the gaps with text.

[Lisa]

Yes, in terms of taking the conversation to a whole new level and preventing people from being able to hide and obscure the scope of a situation as they often do in the media, I very much see what you're saying.

[Pradeep Sethi]

Nice Video.

It was great to hear you Jay today at PodCampWest. Alive in Bagdad is damm cool and you are true evangelist in this new media revolution. Keep up the good work.

Hope to catch you sometime.

Cheers,

PS

[Brooklyn Kitchen]

Video and text should be used together. If it were not for the video, the story would have been no more than a local one. However, if not for the text we wouldn't be able to find out that the victim's name was "Mostafa Tabatabainejad." That tells me that he was likely singled out due to his ethnicity. It tells me that scary things are afoot for those who look a certain way. A video needs context to make it truly powerful and effective. The revolution needs good speakers, writers , and story-weavers, in whatever the medium they use to communicate.

[Juan Falla]

I don't know what to say... No words can come outright now. I'm skinnda mad about the situation.

Evidentally, video adds another meening to what seems a simple incident in a University.

I want to go and buy a cell phone with the best video recording camera so I can too add more meanign to stories like this. We can change a lot of things about our society, as ong as we have a camera to support atrocities like this one.

[Brooklyn Kitchen]

And now this with Michael Richards. If it wasn't for the video, Mr. Richards the media wouldn't have latched onto this story.

[Chuck Cirino]

Now that this video no longer exists . . . wow. I wonder why they took it down.

Here is something else to watch for in the future: Branded Web Cams in public places. Companies will buy locations to place web cams and brand the image with their logos. You'll be able to 'tune in' with your cel phone to check traffic, long lines at movie theaters, the crowd at your favorite night club, etc. I know this sounds very 'big brother' but it will also cut down on what crooked cops can do to hapless students.

[paris]

When I am in the NYU library after midnight, someone comes around to check our id's, even though we are required to swipe them upon entry.

This is such an unfortunate event that took place, and I am glad this video is available for us to see. For those who want to inquire, we can watch the unedited version--we can read the entire wikipedia entry about this event, and find the multiple accounts of this story…

the beauty of the internet is here. We need not be susceptible to believing plastic stories that are packaged to convey a certain image of what happened.

We must examine critically, seek with an eye for truth, read between the lines, but maintain what is essentially human in any side of the side of the story.

[jay dedman]

here's the wikipedia article on the incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCLA_Taser_incident