The evolution of revolution

Free the carrier pigeon, abandon Morse code, and overlook Radio Free Europe (RFE).

The fact is, a new type of communication is at the forefront of today’s political revolutions. Today, rebellions organized via social networking sites are emerging as the newest trend in conflict initiation.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and mobile phone text messaging have become breeding grounds for rebel and dissident movements worldwide. Now only a click away, supporting a coup has never been so easy.

While Canadian university students use Facebook to plan birthdays, charity bake sales, and bar nights, Moldovan students have used it to plan uprisings against their Communist government.

In countries where speaking out against the government is not tolerated, many young activists have been forced to find creative avenues to pursue aggressive action for their cause.

Interestingly, many have turned to the social networking sites they know all too well as a means to articulate dissent and to orchestrate revolt.

While this may appear groundbreaking, according to the Washington Post, throughout history, “Protesters have often used new technologies to evade government attempts to stifle dissent.” The Washington Post notes, even when the Soviet Union appeared on the verge of collapse, “Dissenters used underground fax services to spread information.”

New media technologies provide vital communication links. Exploiting such communication avenues, while evading governmental interference, is the key to raising awareness for a political cause. Undeniably, this is the future of revolution.

Moldova
In April 2009, political unrest bred outright civil disobedience in Moldova’s capital of Chisinau.



Activists, expressing discontent over the Communist Party’s recent re-election victory, overwhelmed the police presence and effectively stormed the country’s parliament buildings. Upon retreat, the dissidents left the government offices in ruins and the typically heavy-handed Communist government in utter bewilderment.

According to RFE, the entire act was organized and carried out using a combination of Twitter, Facebook, mobile phone text messaging, blogs, and e-mail.

RFE reports that even as online access to news organizations and opposition parties was blacked out by the Communist government, organizers simply switched to using Facebook to plan and spread information about upcoming demonstrations. The online organization made it impossible for the Moldovan government to monitor or control the students’ activities.

Iran
In the summer of 2009, Twitter was also a major player in Iran’s ongoing political drama. In June, as Iranian President Ahmadinejad claimed re-election victory, many took to the streets in protest. According to the Washington Post, these demonstrations were entirely prearranged via Facebook and Twitter.



The Washington Post reports that Twitter’s influence on the Iranian political situation was so profound that even U.S. government officials took notice.

In turn, the U.S. State Department asked Twitter to postpone scheduled maintenance of their site, as to not disrupt communication between the dissident movement organizers and their supporters within Iran’s borders.

During the uprising, the mainstream media even grew dependent on Twitter updates as the Iranian government barred the press from entering the country. On some occasions, the Washington Post reports, “The predominant information [was] coming from Twitter.”

In light of this summer’s events, many in Iran have since coined the revolt “a Twitter revolution.”

Somalia
Terrorists, not to be left out of this new trend, have begun to use social networking technologies to their benefit as well.

The BBC reports that Al-Shabab, a radical insurgent Islamic group with reported links to Al-Qaeda, conducts all of its communication via text messages.



The group, operating within war-ravaged Somalia, reportedly organizes its troops, communicates between them, and issues threats to opposing parties using mobile phone text messaging systems.

According to the BBC, low-ranking military officers are given pre-paid phone cards by elite members of the group.

This way, the leadership of al-Shabab is allowed the disguise of complete anonymity and never even has to set foot in Somali territory.

America
The developing world, however, is not the only one getting in on the social networking action.

While hardly a rebellion, Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign is an example of effective use of modern communication technologies.

(Segment relevant to this post starts at 1:45)


The Obama team hired Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes to promote the Democratic hopeful online.

It worked. Obama’s web campaign was revolutionary and unarguably successful in targeting the youth vote, which has traditionally been a difficult demographic to get out to the polls.

The aforementioned examples of digital activism are only a minute cross section of actual occurrences across the globe. In fact, to date, social networking sites have become a powerful political tool throughout the world.

As this technology continues to evolve, it may become better known for its revolutionary potential than its social networking capabilities.

My final project for this course is the blog The Evolution of Revolution. If you are at all interested in the field of digital activism, I encourage you to check it out. Ultimately, this blog will explore the social media revolution currently unfolding; a revolution that could craft our future world order.

As citizens unite in the digital public sphere, it appears that engagement with politics is changing. In countries where newspapers, magazines, and independent television stations are not permitted to exist freely, it seems that an especially active and engaged online population often emerges.

As the democratizing force of digital activism matures, and if the “spinternet” is kept at bay, it is plausible that those who assert themselves in the digital public sphere will see their actions transcend the blogosphere and engage a populace beyond that of even cyberspace.

While a new consciousness is unarguably emerging online, we must question whether it is powerful enough to curb citizen apathy toward political engagement. Does the digital public sphere have a future as a democratic staple? I hope to find out.

A win for citizen journalists everywhere

In 1948, George W. Polk, an American journalist and CBS correspondent, was slain while on assignment in Greece. At the time, Polk was covering the country’s tumultuous civil war. It was in Greece that Polk’s "status as a symbol of journalistic integrity" was solidified by his critical reporting on both of the warring parties – the right-leaning Greek government and the Communists.

In 1949, in commemoration of Polk’s death, Long Island University unveiled the George Polk Award for outstanding radio and television journalism. The Polk Award was intended to compliment the Pulitzer Prize – which honours outstanding print journalism in newspaper publications.

Since this time, the Polk prize has grown to represent one of the highest honours in American journalism. One does not have to look beyond the likes of past Polk prize winners - Christiane Amanpour, Walter Cronkite, and Carl Bernstein, to grasp the quality of journalism that this award honours.

This February, decades after Polk’s death, the 2009 award winners were announced. Interestingly, among the numerous honours, the George Polk Award for Videography was given to a work produced anonymously.

The feat sent shockwaves through the journalistic community. In fact, one critic wrote, ““Anonymous” wins a Polk Award? What’s going on here?”

The answer is citizen journalism.

Following the disputed re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, dissenters took to the streets of Tehran. In the midst of one protest, 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan was shot dead. Reportedly, Agha-Soltan was targeted by a pro-government militant.

Thanks to the quick thinking of one bystander, the entire incident was captured on a cell phone. In the Polk prize-winning clip, Agha-Soltan lays dying on the street as fellow protestors rush to her aid.

(WARNING: The video does contain graphic content).


Neda Agha Soltan Shot in Iran
Uploaded by ART1988. - News videos from around the world.

In the peak of last summer’s digital activism movement, the video was uploaded to the Internet and went viral as it was shared across cyberspace. Soon after, this work of a citizen journalist was picked up by traditional mainstream media institutions across the world - who were barred from entering the country by the Iranian government.




The overwhelming international exposure granted Iran's pro-democratic Green Movement the attention of the world community. As well, the video succeeded in elevating the status of citizen journalists amongst skeptics.

However, there will always be critics. In this case, they are traditionalists who believe that the individuals who participate in this type of reporting are actually “bystanders — not journalists. Just good bystanders.”

However, upon recognition of the intensity and resonance of the video, John Darnton, the new Curator of the Polk Awards, defended his choice. Darnton said, “Isn’t that the definition of news? Something that gets people talking and thinking and reveals something?”

Interestingly, this debate comes at a time when the professional status of journalists is being called into question by advocates of citizen–generated media.

Despite the contention, this Polk Award is an undeniable win for citizen journalists everywhere. The prize, founded on the principle of journalistic integrity, brings credibility to the citizen media movement and grants it official recognition as a legitimate journalistic force.