Video

The video is now a very important means of communication and news. It speaks for itself.

Just in the past few weeks, we have seen witness accounts in the Grenfell Tower fire from residents, neighbours, local and international celebrities, and media personnel themselves. I think it was the very second day that we learned already that:

- the Tower had been refurbished the year before and yet it burned down like a candle

- the Residents had blogged about their safety concerns the year before

We have seen videos of people mercilessly being beaten by cow vigilantes in India.

We have seen the horrific videos of the killing of Mashal Khan.

We have seen male chest-thumping-gloating videos gleefully shared by women and women after the India - Pakistan men's cricket match quickly whipped up by a Telco in Pakistan. There are videos circulating of Indian media disappointed by the gloating going on in Pakistan. (Mind you there are some graceful videos too as well that speak more to the spirit of sportsmanship)

There is a video of the father of Nabra in the US who somehow finds the courage to share his grief and shock at the murder of this daughter, a crime which is not being acknowledged as a hate crime in the US.

I've just seen harrowing videos of the murder of Philando Castile. It's a shame that despite the use of video cams by the US Police, Police still get acquitted for murder of innocent men and women.

The AJ+ videos are phenomenal for how take unpack the most popular myths and ideas going round.

The video is a very important piece of the puzzle in any news story and, helps to build a more varied and " " democratic " " mass opinion. I think the way in which mobile technology can especially share witness accounts instantaneously enriches the way we process news.