Colours and Light | Created by Alex Wain

There is a brand new frontier, through which media agencies across the world are starting to report the news. It occurred to me yesterday just how quickly this change has occured, when I visited this article on the only reliable and trustworthy news source worldwide the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8111352.stm

It’s a detailed analysis of the current debate surrounding the elections in Iran, but more significantly, it categorically answers the question which has been bandied about by various media pundits in recent months:-

“Will instantaneous user generated content (which is often poorly researched, lacking quality and purely opinion based) supercede traditional in-depth, long lead and professional editorial articles?”

With a resounding yes.

The article itself, illustrates the answer brilliantly, it’s the first time I’d seen those two forms of the news side-by-side, complimenting each other, providing a complete picture of the events unfolding.

The article is split into 3 areas. The main body is dedicated to the traditional balanced, researched report by BBC detailing the political mind-field that is currently exploding in Iran.

At the top, there are 7 tabs which feature different levels of content on the BBC site – Latest Developments | Who’s Who | Video | Reporters’ Log | Analysis | Your Reaction and Q&A.

(There’s also sections dedicated to to fill new readers on the ‘Background’ of the situation and several ‘Features’ which take a fascinating look at the history of Iran the social ramifications of the events taking place.)

Essentially, you have everything you need to peice together the broad picture, created, filtered and monitored by the most trusted news source in the world the Britsh Broadcasting Corporation. And yet whilst that seems like a tremendous amount of coverage, it’s actually only half the story.

The second part (and some would say in this day and age, the most vital) is the real-time breaking news and alerts provided by YOU the average person in the street.  The BBC should be applauded for embracing social media rather than fighting it. Whilst you can leave a comment and voice your opinion on the forums on the BBC, these have to be reviewed for content prior to approval (one would assume to stop spam and graphic images). So the BBC decided to go one better.

By utilizing such services as Flickr for photos, YouTube for video clips & Twitter for constant chatter on the ground, they are innovating the way in which we consume news, rather than segregating – like so many other traditional news outlets do.

Whilst the BBC correspondent is spending 15 minutes writing & publishing a “breaking news” article via their laptop from a hotel room, as protests rage outside in the streets below, I can go onto Flickr and see real-time mobile photo uploads of the scene itself.

Just think about that for a second.

We’re on the other side of the world, yet we can access pictures faster than one of our most established news sources.

I can look at Twitter and find breaking information, instant images from the streets of Iran, links to latest feeds and results or contact numbers for loved ones in mere seconds. Faster in fact that in takes for local TV stations to upload their news feeds via satellite. And therein lies the real power of social media.

It is truly staggering that a site like Twitter, unbeknown to the general population 12 months ago, is now taking precedence  and contributing in a dramatic way on a major mainstream news channel.

This unique fusion of respected and professional journalism (which we all rely on for a clear and concise understanding of the events taking place) combined with instant updates from the scene as it unfolds in the form of mobile photos, video uploads and audio files – provide the world with the most well-rounded and accurate form of news reporting we have ever seen in our lifetime.

No government can suppress the average person in the street uploading photos taken on their mobile phone to Flickr. There are 3.3 BILLION mobile handsets in use worldwide – no dictatorship (I’m looking at you China) can police that.

There is a genuine change in the air right now – at long last, it’s the public who are in the front row, technology and real-time syndication means news is now unfiltered, uncensored, free from delays, commericals or special interests – everyone gets to write part of the script.

It’s the most accurate and confronting look at our world, seen through the eyes of the people in the centre of it all.

Iran is an unquestionably bloody and bruised place to be in right now, but one thing is for certain – the entire world is now watching.

Alex