Unfair cop
The CPS may charge a police officer with manslaughter over the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6738549.ece
The Guardian describes this as a victory for citizen journalism.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/04/ian-tomlinson-death-g20
The Guardian is being modest. In fact, it’s a victory for a grand coalition of traditional robust and bloody-minded journalism, digital technology and the free market. It’s this coalition that has proved too much for the police, and may bring justice to Ian Tomlinson’s family
Let’s deal with the journalism first:
The clip that blew the police story out of the water became significant when it appeared on the Guardian web site.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission wanted to seize the video, but couldn’t. So they asked the Guardian to take it down. The Guardian refused. An ISP would have dumped the clip in a heartbeat. Even a blogger might have quailed.
Once they’d seen the film, the police came out with the risible notion that the assailant was a member of the public dressed up as a policeman. But the officer gave himself up after seeing the film on national TV.
Now the citizen bit:
The citizens involved were witnesses, not journalists. In fact, as the Guardian report makes clear, the man who shot the film they used wasn’t even a demonstrator – he was a hedge fund manager. He was a witness. He filmed an assault. And then he passed the film on to the journalists, who knew exactly what to do with it.
And the free market bit:
It’s worth remarking that all this hung on the fact that Joe and Josephine Public can now get their hands on devices that can almost match state technology, at least at street level. And that this is because of the free market. It wouldn’t happen in the kind of society dreamt of by the G20 demonstrators. We’d all be too busy knitting our own muesli.
Watching the detectives
The average UK state official has powers that would bring a KGB general to his knees weeping tears of envy. We’re the most spied-on people in the history of spying. We’re living in the Golden Age of sneaks and spies, and it’s time we spied back.
Ian Tomlinson. RIP.
The CPS may charge a police officer with manslaughter over the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests.
The Guardian describes this as a victory for citizen journalism.
The Guardian is being modest. In fact, it’s a victory for a grand coalition of traditional robust and bloody-minded journalism, digital technology and the free market. It’s this coalition that has proved too much for the police, and may bring justice to Ian Tomlinson’s family.
Let’s deal with the journalism first:
- The clip that blew the police story out of the water became significant when it appeared on the Guardian web site.
- The Independent Police Complaints Commission wanted to seize the video, but couldn’t. So they asked the Guardian to take it down. The Guardian refused. An ISP would have dumped the clip in a heartbeat. Even a blogger might have quailed.
- Once they’d seen the film, the police came out with the risible notion that the assailant was a member of the public dressed up as a policeman. But the officer gave himself up after seeing the film on national TV.
Now the citizen bit:
- The citizens involved were witnesses, not journalists.
- In fact, as the Guardian report makes clear, the man who shot the film they used wasn’t even a demonstrator – he was a hedge fund manager. He filmed an assault. And then he passed the film on to the journalists, who knew exactly what to do with it.
And the free market bit:
- It’s worth remarking that all this hung on the fact that we the people can now get their hands on devices that can almost match state technology, at least at street level. And that this is because of the free market. It wouldn’t happen in the kind of society dreamt of by the G20 demonstrators. We’d all be too busy knitting our own muesli.
Watching the detectives
The average UK state official has powers that would bring a KGB general to his knees weeping tears of envy. We’re the most spied-on people in the history of spying. We’re living in the Golden Age of sneaks and spies, and it’s time we spied back.
Ian Tomlinson. RIP.