I’ve chosen to look at a two very different examples of citizen journalism. The first highlights a very current abuse of power; that of male power. The image was taken in the immediate aftermath of a vicious attack on two girls on a London night bus.
Fig 1.
The couple, Melania Geymonat and her friend, referred to as Chris, were sitting in the upstairs front seats of the bus when they were surrounded by four young males who proceeded to homophobically abuse them. The girls remain unsure as to what action may have given rise to the intolerable behaviour of the men, thinking that they may perhaps have kissed each other (and why not in a fair and tolerant society?). The men aggressively demanded that they kiss for them, to perform for their entertainment. I think it’s probably a safe bet that the men have watched far too much pornography, and like a large proportion of young men today are desensitised to sex and lack an understanding of intimate sexual relations. Alongside that, because of the disrespectful nature if pornography today, they copycat the arrogant and chauvinistic attitudes displayed to women in these films. This seems to be a worrying trend amongst young males, highlighting the objectification of women and the perception of male power over them.
When the girls refused to perform the abuse was ratcheted up from verbal to physical, with coins being thrown at them and escalating at punches being landed on them. The men then fled. Sometime after when the girls were still reeling from the attack, an image was made of them.
It’s not clear how soon after the attack the image was made. Melania’s Facebook post which was made almost a week after the incident stated, ‘it was only them and us there’ (Geymonat, 2019), if this is the case people can only have joined them after the men had fled, no-one was actually documenting the incident as it occurred. This would imply that there is a level of collaboration in the making of the image. The picture first appeared on Melania’s Facebook account, so it would have to have been made on her phone or sent to her via a third party. Looking at the image it appears as if there is a certain amount of thought put into its construction. Melania appears calm and composed compared to her friend Chris, as though she’s steadied herself; she’s facing squarer to the camera emphasising the blood on her shirt and has tilted her head back slightly, highlighting the damage to her nose. I definitely get a sense of purpose in the making of the image; as if the notion of sharing has immediately taken root. For me the image is definitely more subjective than objective, there is a reason for its creation from the onset, rightly, to show the world the extent of violent homophobia and the objectification of women.
The second eyewitness account features live footage recorded at the scene of a horrendous attack on anti-fascist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Fig 2.
The protesters were marching in response to a demonstration organised by various alt-right factions who were themselves marching against the removal of a statue that for them symbolised their movement and the confederate states, who have a long history of white supremacy and ardent racism. There were several days of protests over the course of months and numerous altercations between the two groups, a lot of them ending in violence, heightening the tensions between them. On August 12th 2017 James Fields attended a white supremacist rally, after which he drove his car into a large mass of racially diverse protestors, killing one and seriously injuring several others. The incident was filmed by onlookers of which footage taken by Brennan Gilmore soon went viral and was picked up by major media outlets. Brennan was unsure as whether to post his footage but was persuaded after hearing that the alt-right were spinning negative propaganda regarding the incident. He saw the releasing of his film as a way of conveying the truth and silencing negative spin. When viewing his footage, I would argue that this is much more objective than the first incident with Melania and Chris. There was no time to do anything other than react – barely time to think. Brennan saw a fast car hurtling down the road towards the protestors, he didn’t know the eventual outcome, he just reacted to the fast car, almost on auto-pilot and recorded the world as it is.
There are both subjective and objective versions of eyewitness accounts that have been widely used over time, be it a plane crashing into the Twin Towers (objective) or a policeman smashing his baton into a miners face (subjective), the things that dictate the outcomes are relative time and the individuals involved in the capture.
Illustrations
Fig 1. Geymonat, M (2019) Facebook [Screenshot] In: Facebook.com. (2019). Melania Ps. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/melaniapeese/posts/2310276979289157 [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
Fig 2. Gilmore, B (2017) Youtube [Screenshot] In: YouTube. (2019). Man who recorded Charlottesville attack speaks out. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfk2e15Bhfg [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
Bibliography
the Guardian. (2019). You saw me covered in blood on a bus. But do you get outraged about all homophobia? | Chris. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/14/homophobic-attack-bus-outrage-media-white?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR297uLuj9AW10piR0rU_X3zf5RIDcyC6kuis5ADvlF21ZmCw19frw5vdK8 [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
The Independent. (2019). Homophobic attacks more common than people realise, LGBT+ campaigners warn. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-bus-attack-homophobic-violence-london-lgbt-lesbian-couple-a8949231.html [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
Facebook.com. (2019). Melania Ps. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/melaniapeese/posts/2310276979289157 [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Man who recorded Charlottesville attack speaks out. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfk2e15Bhfg [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
Nytimes.com. (2019). Charlottesville Car Attack Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Hate Crimes. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/us/charlottesville-plea-hate-crimes.html [Accessed 24 Jun. 2019].
Context and Narrative 