Category: People

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Flickr a Day 286: ‘Please Help’

I sometimes chuckle at people identified online by first name only. Do they feel more important? Perhaps privacy protection is a concern? Something else? Today’s shooter, identified only as Christian on Flickr and also Instagram, fits the category. His Sept. 5, 2004 self-titled “Please Help” takes the Day for reasons of identification—or lack of it.

“This photo has made the rounds on the Internet, but I was the one who took it originally” he says. The insinuation is clear: Unaccredited. I wonder if a full name to identify would encourage more people to properly credit him. Using the C word differently, Christian deserves credit for this:  “I only post photos that I take”. Good going dude. 

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Who Mourns for the Fourth Estate? (Part 2)

June 2009, the future of 21st Century journalism moves with protestors across Iran’s capital. In an area somewhat removed from the commotion, philosophy student Neda Salehi reportedly steps from a car and is soon shot by a sniper. A bystander videos her death and uploads it to YouTube. The moment becomes the rallying point for demonstrators in the country and for spectators from around the globe. It is a seminal moment of change for the news media.

The next night, June 21, I write