Libyan Rebel Victory Showcases Traditional and New Media in its Finest Hour

In the aftermath of the amazing uprising in Libya over the last few days, the world witnessed an extraordinary combination of traditional and new media at its finest, as brave journalists told the world the story of the Libyan rebel uprising.

For a practice that has been ridiculed and in some ways replaced by technologies and citizens themselves, the journalists of CNN and Sky News to name but a few, highlighted vintage journalism and new media in all its glory.

The sights of the Libyan rebels roaming their streets with firearms and war tanks, would put fear into the eyes of a journalists family. This did not however put fear into the eyes of journalists such as Sky News Correspondent Alex Crawford, and CNN's Senior International Correspondence Mathew Chance.

Alex Crawford traveled with the rebels on each step of their journey, and at one stage Alex and her crew were fired upon. On Monday night they broadcasted from the back of a rebel pick up truck, who were firing rounds of ammunition into the air in celebration, after they took back the iconic Green Square in Tripoli.

The amazing description and footage provided to the world by Alex and her team, showed a country celebrating as if it were New Years Eve or the 4th of July. The sounds of gunshots, singing, and even the odd freedom, highlighted just how much the people of Libya have suffered under the Gadhafi regime.

Armed with head gear and a bullet proof vest, Alex also used her Twitter account to provide a constant update on the uprising and fighting in Libya. Elsewhere a group of CNN journalists were not so fortunate, as CNN's Mathew Chance and his team were held captive in the Rixos hotel in Tripoli.

The Twitter world anxiously followed Chance's page as he gave remarkable updates on the terrifying ordeal him and his crew went through. Chance and his team were not allowed to leave the hotel by Gadafi's men, and were left to wonder whether or not they would see the light of day again.

At one terrifying stage Chance tweeted, "Sniper too pot-shot at hotel and we all took cover. Journalists in #Rixos are fine, keeping together but have limited perspective on news".

A day later and Chance used his Twitter account to portray personal messages to the family members of his crew. They read; "To Josie - Paul is fine. He's taking some great pictures. "To Tom - Missy is missing you. She's doing well and will see you soon".

These messages provide only a vague idea of what these journalists, and their families went through during this ordeal. Thankfully, following a negotiation with Gadhafi's troops, all journalists were allowed to leave the hotel in small numbers.

Chance excellently described the surrender of the troops when he wrote; "Crisis ended when #rixos gunmen realised that #Libya outside of hotel doors was no longer Libya of old. Handed us their guns and said sorry".

In a remarkable statement that resembled the spirit of the uprising, as well as the overall joy of the rebel victory, Chance stated; "In the end - felt sorry for the guards. All they knew was Gadhafi's regime. Took them  a while to realise it had crumbled".

These were remarkable words coming from a man who was held captive by Gadafhi's men. This amazing story shows the power the ordinary people still have, and the role journalists still possess in in reporting it. Lets now hope that journalists around the world will soon be writing, and tweeting about the overdue capture of Gadhafi.

UK Rioting Inflicts Further Damage on British Image

The devastating scenes coming out of London and now other cities in the United Kingdom, will not improve the image of a country still recovering from the phone hacking scandal.

The images of children as young as nine, along with adults in their 20’s and 30’s; rioting, looting and most recently murdering, has brought shame and embarrassment to Great Britain.  After the sickening details of the phone hacking scandals of recent weeks, the British Government were in absolutely no way prepared for this latest disaster.At a time where markets across the world are in grave danger of collapsing, and the United States economy hangs on by the skin of its teeth, the horrible images coming out of the UK will add further misery and worry to the potential consequences of a world recession.

The British press have been working in overdrive since the rioting began, and just as worrying as the images of violence across the country, is the reasons many youths have given for their actions. A young man told the British press, that while he did not agree with the actions of the rioters, he could see why they were doing it. Another youth referred to the rise in VAT, student loans and University tuition fees, stating that people have no future as they now have no money.

While the recession has affected most countries around the world, surely the destruction of peoples businesses and livelihoods is not the answer to fighting these difficult times. The Republic of Ireland, Greece, and most recently Spain and Italy, have fallen on extremely hard times, yet this kind of behaviour is nowhere to be seen in these countries. On the other hand, there were protests in Greece, but these were at government officials in the aftermath of a budget, not at innocent people.

David Cameron said today that a lack of responsibility is to blame for the rioting across Britain. He spoke about the lack of parenting and control over the people responsible for the crimes. The British Prime Minister has a lot more to do than pint the finger of blame at anyone. The British Government now has an even bigger task on their hands. Not only do they have to capture and condemn the people responsible for these crimes, but they also need to clean up their streets to ensure this does not happen again, and while doing so try to repair the tarnished image of the United Kingdom.

The world will be watching the London Olympics in 2012; however, will people be safe attending the event?

Article first published as <a href='http://technorati.com/politics/article/uk-rioting-inflicts-further-damage-on/'>UK Rioting Inflicts Further Damage on British Image</a> on Technorati.