Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Enhancement of Cell Phone Technology Makes Everyone a Reporter
Thanks to a new wave of cell phone technology, everyone has the ability to become a reporter if need be. A South Korean newspaper journalist identified as Hong was arrested 3 years ago after belligerantly assaulting innocent citizens. After an argument with a taxi driver, a drunken Hong attacked the driver, punching him in the face and kicking him in the groin. Hong also went after hotel employees at Koreanna Hotel in the city of Seoul. So how was he caught? Hotel cameras? A call to the police? Both wrong. Hong was busted as a result of the taxi driver's cell phone camera. The driver, identified as a man named Ahn, recorded the assaultings on his cell phone and within hours the video was being shown on all major broadcasting stations in Korea.
This incident is not the first of its kind, and it won't be the last either. However, Sunmoon University professor Hwang Keun believes this is the future of citizen journalism:
This incident is not the first of its kind, and it won't be the last either. However, Sunmoon University professor Hwang Keun believes this is the future of citizen journalism:
"This case demonstrates the possibility that citizen journalism will not be limited to writing and pictures. Now everybody armed with a camcorder phone is a potential TV reporter and Ahn showcased it against a newspaper reporter"
Keun and many others all across the world are confident in the belief that citizen-based journalism will only gain momentum as technology continues to improve at a rapid pace.
