Rights group Witness puts media tools to good use
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Since its founding in 1992 by British musician Peter Gabriel, footage produced by the nonprofit group has aired on the BBC, CNN, Oxygen and ABC, and an available video archive is maintained at http://www.Witness.org. Witness also has attracted involvement from such celebrity activists as Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Angelina Jolie.
"It's an unprecedented opportunity," Gabriel said about how technology is affecting the media landscape, "with the average person able to record and distribute their own media, easily and affordably, with something as inconspicuous and convenient as a cellular telephone."
The inspiration came to Gabriel in 1988, he said, while he was on a world tour sponsored by Amnesty International. He met victims of human rights abuse and was appalled that the perpetrators went unpunished. Caldwell said the national outcry on race and police brutality ignited by the Rodney King video and Gabriel's acquisition of funding from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation were the final factors in establishing the nonprofit organization.
"Witness was really founded ahead of its time," Caldwell said, referring to the nonprofit's Internet-based nature. "But we're at a point now where digital, Internet and mobile technologies are converging. An example of that is what we saw during the bombing in the London tube. It's changing the whole face of the citizen-journalism landscape."
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Since its founding in 1992 by British musician Peter Gabriel, footage produced by the nonprofit group has aired on the BBC, CNN, Oxygen and ABC, and an available video archive is maintained at http://www.Witness.org. Witness also has attracted involvement from such celebrity activists as Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Angelina Jolie.
"It's an unprecedented opportunity," Gabriel said about how technology is affecting the media landscape, "with the average person able to record and distribute their own media, easily and affordably, with something as inconspicuous and convenient as a cellular telephone."
The inspiration came to Gabriel in 1988, he said, while he was on a world tour sponsored by Amnesty International. He met victims of human rights abuse and was appalled that the perpetrators went unpunished. Caldwell said the national outcry on race and police brutality ignited by the Rodney King video and Gabriel's acquisition of funding from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation were the final factors in establishing the nonprofit organization.
"Witness was really founded ahead of its time," Caldwell said, referring to the nonprofit's Internet-based nature. "But we're at a point now where digital, Internet and mobile technologies are converging. An example of that is what we saw during the bombing in the London tube. It's changing the whole face of the citizen-journalism landscape."
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