Trend: War Blogging

Increasingly bloggers are bringing news directly from the frontline in unprecedented ways.

Trend Description:
As the Internet and blogs in specific have established themselves as an easy to use tool to share information, videos and pictures, there is also an explosion of political and personal insights about crisis areas, terrorism, and the war. From online platforms for personal opinions and insider information, diaries from soldiers and people living in these areas to propaganda posted by terrorists, the public can find everything it might be interested in. Some sources are official, some unofficial – sometimes even illegal. The war against terrorism has spread to the Internet. Also reporters, publishers and filmmaker like Deborah Scranton with “The War Tapes” start to use blogs to get closer to the frontline.

Cases:

Jihad 2.0
An article published in “The Atlantic” monthly magazine, describes how terrorists have turned to the Internet as a global recruiting tool. Less and less available training camps in Afghanistan are making the Internet a necessary tool for the terrorist movement. Started by the legendary “Irhabi 007”, terrorist groups now share their success stories online, post violent videos (Berg), and intelligence material, and inform about al-Qaeda and about how to build explosives. Of course there is already a counter movement. Cyber-terrorist consultants like Evan Kohlman or Aaron Weisburd are trying to track the terrorists down.

The War Tapes
“The War Tapes”, “Winner of Best International Documentary Competition at the Tribeca Film Festival”, is the first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves. Enabled by the possibilities of the Internet, director Deborah Scranton persuaded five US soldiers to send her footage from Iraq. Working from her farm in New Hampshire, she was guiding the filming through instant messaging and email. For the year of their deployment the soldiers were equipped with mini DV video cameras which they mounted on their Humvees on gun turrets, inside dashboards, or on their kevlar helmets and vests. Scranton also followed the families of these soldiers. She filmed them coming home and portrayed the problems the soldiers and families had to deal with to reintegrate after what they had to face in Iraq: Violence, roadside bombing, death, boredom, heat. Although the 800 hours of footage were previewed by the responsible press officer of the US military, there was hardly any censorship. The Soldiers talk openly and critically about their deployment and about the war, they wonder if it makes any sense to be here, they wonder if they are really in Iraq to help, they wonder “Why?” And this is what makes this movie special. It is one honest story about the war in the Iraq, one of many which could be told. But it is told by the soldiers themselves and even if you can’t understand the war after the movie, you can understand what these men went through.

We’re not afraid
“We’re not afraid” encourages “the global community to speak out against the acts of terror that have struck London, Madrid, New York, Baghdad, Basra, Tikrit, Gaza, Tel-Aviv, Afghanistan, Bali, and against the atrocities occurring in cities around the world each and every day”. There is a gallery and a forum to share pictures and thoughts showing that: “We will work, we will play, we will laugh, we will live. We will not waste one moment, nor sacrifice one bit of our freedom, because of fear. We are not afraid.”

Trend Impact:
Blogs are an easy to use tool to share all kinds of information and insights. As the information on the web grows it will become harder to find the “right” information, to find “correct” information. On the other hand this “citizen journalism” culture allows everybody to share their knowledge and insights, making every single post one piece in the picture of an objective truth. Moreover, finally there is a way to hear the person who is directly effected. We can see, read and hear their voice immediate and unfiltered.

The War Tapes

We’re not afraid

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