Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

The disturbing video showing the agonizing shooting death of 19-year-old Iranian student Neda Soltani has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube alone. At first, I was surprised that YouTube did not remove the video, but upon second thought, I realized it would probably be considered censorship. YouTube would likely have been criticized for trying to cover up the terrible events happening in Iran.

I was listening to Steve Czaban this morning on FoxSportsRadio.com and he mentioned having watched the video. His response was that he wished he could “unwatch” it because it’s something that he will never forget and will probably haunt him for some time.

I struggled with whether or not to watch the video. On the one hand I didn’t want to watch it because I knew it would be difficult and probably an image I would never get out of my head. In 2002 journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and brutally murdered by terrorists in Pakistan. The video of his murder showed up on the internet and out of morbid curiosity I decided to watch it. I was a journalist at the time and felt compelled. To this day, I cannot get the horrific images out of my head.

The Neda Soltani video is much different. It was shot by a bystander in the streets, blocks from the actual protests. A basij shot and killed Neda in the streets where she bled to death for the whole world to see. Unlike the Pearl video, there was no morbid curiousity, only sadness. This woman and at least 16 others were killed because they disagreed with their government. It sounds cliche, but I felt I needed to watch what happened so that in some small way her death would not be in vain.

Since her unwilling sacrifice, Neda has become the face of what appears to be the beginnings of another revolution in Iran. The video caused outrage across the world and as tough as the hard-liners in Iran are trying to come across, we live in much different times - their brutality can no longer be contained by shutting down satellites, telephone lines and expelling foreign journalists. They must now contend with the seeminglingly unstoppable power of the Internet.

The original title of this post was “Moral Dilemmas Facing Citizen Journalist,” but as is the case with many posts I write, the focus changed once I started writing. Years ago when I was a videojournalist for an NBC affiliate, I witnessed a law enforcement officer hit by a car going 55 mph. The officer was in bad shape and as a journalist, I should have picked up my camera and recorded the aftermath, but instead, I set my camera down and ran to his aid.

I do not regret my decision one bit, but it did signal to me that I would never be a hard-hitting news journalist. Then again, that was never one of my career aspirations. The 40+ seconds of Neda’s death recorded on a cell phone will resonate for decades and while it is painful to watch for people who weren’t there, imagine how painful it was for the man who recorded it.

Do you think he considered not recording it? Or did he realize the enormity of the situation and the global impact the video would have? Whatever made him hit record during such a heartbreaking moment - his decision to do so put a face with the struggles of his people in Iran.

At one point in the video it looks like Neda is staring at the camera. As a former videojournalist who has had to cover very difficult news events that capture people in painful moments, this really hit me. This guy was recording the last seconds of this woman’s life as she lay bleeding to death and she’s looking right at the camera. That image would haunt me if I were the camera operator.

I am glad there are journalist in this world who have the strength and conviction to cover these types of events - be they professional or citizen journalists. Their determination and sacrifices help ensure that oppressive governments and attrocities are broght to the global spotlight.

Have you watched the video? What are your thoughts and feelings? If you haven’t watched it, why not? Would you have recorded it had you been there? Why or why not?