New Wave of Human Rights Documentation

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Originally uploaded by triciawang.

WITNESS, an organization that gives people video cameras to document human rights abuses has now announced within 1 year anyone can upload video clips to their website. I wonder if they will truly open up by syndicating their clips (RSS and etc). What a brilliant idea! That means in NYC I can record how NYC police blatantly mistreat certain populations and then I can sent the video to WITNESS!

I don't fully understand the technical bitsies behind this idea but here's what I like about this:
1.) WITNESS opened up a community forum to discuss how to best implement this idea. So now all these non-WITNESS staff are able to contribute their recommendations to the tech staff
2.) using existing resources that are already in people's hands - instead of a top down hierarchal approach and deficit model, they were able to think about how to utilize the the tools and technologies that people already have - like cellphones - cameras -
3.) uses the power of their network - this allows anyone with video recording abilities to participate instead of having to self-distribute and place video cameras into their network



WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Digital Witness:
In an interview at BusinessWeek online, Gabriel and Witness Executive Director Gillian Caldwell reveal that the organization intends to open up an online portal allowing people to send in video clips from digital cameras and cameraphones -- that is, if they can get the funding.

Are people already sending tapes or images from mobile phones?
Gabriel: We haven't had the structure to do that. That's the next challenge.
Caldwell: Implementation will be in the next 12 months. That's what we're shooting for, although we need financial support.

How will you keep control of the content?
Gabriel: We hope there will be some sort of self-regulating system. People, in order to get content uploaded, would have to rate three or four other pieces of material [on the site]. My country [England] is the most observed country in the world. I think the average person gets filmed eight times a day. The aim here is to turn the cameras back.