Credible cellphone video of Saddam’s execution leaked
Steve Safran December 31st, 2006
It was only a matter of time. There is now video on YouTube, Revver and other sites, purportedly of Saddam’s execution in full. It is believable. The person who shot it on a cellphone is standing below the gallows, so you clearly see Saddam dropping and then hanging. Arab television stations are showing this in full. The American stations I have seen (as well as the BBC) showing it stop it just before the hanging. I am linking to it, because I believe it is important people have the choice of deciding for themselves. I’m not embedding it here. You may disagree with this choice, and I respect that. But the truth is that, once the video is out there, everyone will find it. And that’s the point of the internet in 2007: people shoot the news with their own tools, find their own information, and our jobs are changed now to facilitate the conversation of news.
14 Comments Add your own
1. thejustcuriouschannel | December 31st, 2006 at 8:28 am
then why not embed it?
2. Steve Safran | December 31st, 2006 at 8:31 am
It’s a good question and one I’m sure other will ask. To me, the news is that the video is on those sites. So I think there’s value in sending people to the sites to see the context of how the video is making the rounds. Because LR is about convergence media and not the news as such, I believe it is worth newsies seeing it as the world is seeing it.
3. thejustcuriouschannel | December 31st, 2006 at 8:39 am
fair enough.
have a great new year!
4. thedetroitchannel | December 31st, 2006 at 9:16 am
speaking of you tube- they have a different looking homepage up today.
chevy is making the “bold moves” instead of ford with their weeklong sponsorship.
i kid you not, i purchased an ‘07 chevy equinox on friday for my 16 year-old daughter partly because of the ad there which links to a chevy webchannel. that, and the fact she just wouldn’t let me forget that i bought her older brother a brand new car when he was 16. but that’s besides the point.
5. jeff lowenstein | December 31st, 2006 at 9:18 am
Thank you Steve for your 24/7 effort! This is the future of news. Edwin Diamond would have been proud.
6. Vinny | December 31st, 2006 at 10:05 am
One of the things that makes the web so powerful is the lack of an editorial filter for most sites. In the news biz, most producers and staff look at a story for its appropriateness and decide whether or not to air it (think the Mohammed cartoons) while the web has no such filter for the most part and people are out to get the most interesting stories and angles not the ones they “can” air…
With the rise of YouTube this year, I think that was more obvious. In 2007, it’s going to be even more potent and news outlets that think we care more about K-Fed and Britney than the world around us are going to feel that pinch in a profound way.
7. fhj | December 31st, 2006 at 11:32 am
it’s great to see that pig got what he deserved.
8. Q Tip | December 31st, 2006 at 1:54 pm
The Revver video gives money to Andrew Breitbart of Drudge Report/Huffington Post fame and Breitbart.com sorta-fame. Click my name if you’re curious.
9. Allen | January 1st, 2007 at 8:02 am
It was on the Google video site long before YouTube. I posted a link to it a couple of days ago (it’s still awaiting moderation) in another Saddam thread here.
10. Alan A. Reiter | January 1st, 2007 at 11:08 am
A CNN correspondent reported that there’s a “Bluetooth frenzy” in Iraq as Iraqis transfer the Saddam execution camera phone video from phone to phone.
In all the years (28) I’ve been analyzing wireless communications I’ve rarely seen a technology that’s as important. The camera phone, with its ability to almost instantaneously transmit photos and videos, is revolutionary.
There are still analysts who disparage the “crappy” camera phone photos. Well, I’ve got two, 3.2 megapixel camera phones on my desk and expect to test a five megapixel some time this year. I can also shoot camera phone videos at 30 fps.
But it’s more than just about quality. It’s about one billion people being able to document what occurs around them, and then alert their friends, family or the world.
It’s now possible to use a camera phone to stream live video to a TV station for broadcast over the air. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were services that would allow consumers to do live streaming on Web sites.
As a former full time journalist (M.S. in journalism/broadcasting — many years ago) and now a wireless data consultant, I know the camera phone is truly empowering the “ordinary” citizen.
Many analysts also are disparaging mobile TV — saying no one will watch TV on tiny screens. They will be proven wrong because they fail to learn the lesson of continuing improvements in technology. You can buy a phone with a larger screen. And, cellular screen resolution is improving, network performance is improving and a wealth of TV programs are becoming available.
It takes time, but it’s just the beginning.
A world of real-time, streaming “citizen broadcasts” is on the way.
This isn’t the end of big media, as some have predicted, but an enhancement.
11. Rob | January 1st, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Brian Williams just now reported (January 1st, 5:30 PM on the West Coast) the cellphone video of Saddam’s execution as “poor quality, grainy, cellphone video” …
Whoever wrote that script doesn’t get it.
It’s not about the quality of the video. It’s about the fact that other people have already posted: With cellphones, handicams, digital cameras and Internet access people can now have near-real-time access to the news without having to rely on waiting for mainstream media outlets.
12. Vinny | January 1st, 2007 at 6:51 pm
So to recap, I can watch a grainy Saddam video from a cellphone or a crystal clear HD picture of some entertainment story repackaged as news because the network is playing the TV show the person stars in.
You’re right, Rob. They really don’t get it. People are seeking news now like never before, and instead of giving us more news, they’re just crapping on the sources that aren’t alphabet networks.
Screw ‘em.
13. Lynn | January 9th, 2007 at 9:21 am
I agree with fhj….but he’s worse than a pig and he deserved worse…he deserved no respect….
14. Liey | January 18th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Wow, thanks for the excellent information!
Leave a Comment
(Please keep URLs out of the comment body or the spam filter will block you.)Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed