Twittering Iran Protests Could Revolutionize The Mindset Of A Generation

If you asked nearly any American under the age of 30 two weeks ago what they thought of Iran, it's unlikely you would have heard anything positive in response.

You might have heard about Iran's nuclear enrichment being a major threat to the security of the United States. Others probably would have told you about an ultra-conservative Muslim nation run by old men who hate everything America stands for. Some probably would have even brought terrorism into the conversation.

Few would have mentioned anything about a democratic process. Not many would have brought up a world-class scientific community whose universities breed some of the best math and science minds of anywhere in the world. And it's very likely that none would have brought up the fact that 70 percent of Iran's population was under the age of 30.

But after protests that have swept the country and galvanized a nation in one of its first showings of outright emotion for the world to see, those opinions could soon change. (PHOTO: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

I am 21 years old; born in 1988, nine years after the topple of Iran's western-supported government in favor of an Islamic Republic, and at the end of a brutal war with Iraq in which it is estimated between 500,000 and 1 million people lost their lives.

By the time I was old enough to realize the world outside of my immediate sight, all I knew of the Middle East was Saddam Hussein's failed attempt to invade Kuwait, civil war in Afghanistan, and whatever George Clooney and Marky Mark showed me in "Three Kings."

Then came George W. Bush, who proclaimed Iran as part of the so-called "Axis of Evil", hellbent to destroy America and its allies because "they hate our freedom."

But after witnessing the outpouring support for presidential reform candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in the days leading up to last Friday's election, and more importantly, the reaction to the announced results by the candidates' supporters, it is clear to me that these people "hating our freedom" could not be further from the truth.

The truth is, they envy our freedom. They crave it. They are willing to die for it.

Democracy is by no means the only nor is it the best form of government, nor should it be imposed on any nation, but it is what Iranians were supposed to be partaking in Friday. Democracy means a presidential election by the people, for the people. Americans had the Bush/Gore vote controversy of 2000, but where were the hundreds of thousands of Gore supporters marching on the National Mall in Washington D.C., demanding a recount? They weren't. No Americans were incensed enough to make a statement that their vote did not reflect the will of the majority.

After standing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Friday's election with a near-unfathomable 63 percent of the vote, another controversy ensued. Mousavi's supporters felt Ahmadinejad had cheated; that he had stripped them of their dearest rights in a nation still strife with social inequality: the right to vote in a fair election. The right to manifest their voice in a physical presence. The right to democracy. And the right to a reformed Islamic movement that reflected the progressive mindset of hundreds of thousands of voters across the nation.

After the news broke, Iran's government acted quickly to shut down foreign news channels, mobile text messaging, and social networking sites. But Twitter remained, and it has been that 70 percent, many of whom are Mousavi supporters, who have taken to the Internet to make sure their voices are not silenced again.

The hashtag #iranelection has been flooded with "tweets" from Iranians in Tehran and other cities as protesters gathered in masses to voice their dissatisfaction with what they call a rigged election. A steady mass of updates regarding meetings, protest sites, photos, and video from those Iranians has combined with a "Twittersphere" of other users worldwide to establish a go-to place for accurate, real-time news on developments in Iran. Worldwide, the Twitter community denounced American news channels for a lack of coverage, indicting CNN with the hashtag #cnnfail.

It appears as though the Twitter community has learned from its mistakes in reporting the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008, when rumors ran rampant and false information spread like wildfire. A community of fact-checkers and a demand that information be sourced has kept the information coming in on Twitter on point and up-to-date.

But perhaps the most important facet of the Twitter universe reporting the Iranian protests has been the cohesiveness of the community. From Tehran to Toronto, Hamadan to Hamburg, Sananda to San Francisco, people have connected and found commonality in humanity - sharing the stories not just of a group people adament to be heard, but of an emotion that transcends race, location, and culture.

Monday, people shared IP addresses to keep people in Iran online and reporting. They shared videos with blogs like the Huffington Post, where a liveblog of events in Iran was constantly being updated with information via Twitter. And late Monday, after it became apparent the Iranian government was monitoring Twitter and possibly cracking down on those sending information to the outside world, people across the globe changed their location and time zone to Tehran in order to confuse authorities and keep those in Tehran safe from the government-supporting Basiji militia.

Some have been reluctant to call the massive protests in Iran a revolution. However, at least one revolution is already underway - a revolution of minds and viewpoints. A Pew study done in February indicated 65 percent of Twitter users were aged 18-34. It is that demographic that has become fluent in the language of the Internet and its possibilities, and it is largely that demographic that is stoking the fire of the Iranian Twitter Revolution.

Now, it could be that demographic, through experiences such as the Iranian protests, that sparks the dialogue that world leaders have failed to successfully engage in for so long.

And it could bring together a more understanding world of tomorrow.

Unrest And Uncertainty In Iran

Protesters have taken to the streets in Iran to voice their opinions that Friday's elections were rigged in favor of standing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Many of the protesters are supporters of Ahmadinejad's largest competitor - former Iranian Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

The protesters claim the election results, which gave Ahamdinejad 62.63 percent of the vote and Mousavi only 33.75 percent, are highly tailored, or even reversed in value. An 85 percent turnout was reported, with many believing that Mousavi would win the election if such a number came out to vote.

Ahmadinejad's largest base of support comes from the rural and lower-class areas of Iran, where people champion his traditional, conservative style. But Mousavi was expected to win a vast majority of the younger vote in a nation where 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30.

Reports came in Friday of crackdowns on Mousavi supporters at the polls, as well as claims of arrests that barred voters from voting. Friday evening, Mousavi claimed victory after his poll-watchers reported an overwhelming response from voters in favor of the ex-Prime Minister. Not surprisingly, Ahmadinejad claimed victory just hours later, which were supported when numbers were released and backed up by a message from the Ministry of Interior.

Those numbers sparked outrage from opposition supporters, and those supporters appear to have a valid argument. Mousavi reportedly lost his home city of Tabriz, and Mehdi Kahroubi, another refrom candidate, lost his home state of Lorestan. Both seem highly unlikely according to voter analysis. But perhaps the most surprising number is Ahamdenijad's near 63 percent of the overall vote, which would make him the most popular president in Iran's history, another unlikely occurance.

Both Mousavi and Kharoubi have declared the election void and want the vote annulled by the Council of Guardians. Mousavi, who has reportedly been placed under house arrest, has also called on his supporters and other supporters of the opposition to continue protests peacefully. And while some protests have been peaceful, many have turned into clashes with police. In Tehran, protesters burned tires, garbage bins, and took to the street in opposition of the riot gear-clad police, who say they are "protecting the vote of the people." Police responded with heavy doses of pepper spray, billy clubs, and riot shields, according to sources in Tehran.

However, the so-called "vote of the people" could be anything but. Protesters are clearly outraged at the election results, but have not gone so far as to declare a revolution against the government. They say the protests are to reform the Islamic Revolution that has been a mainstay of Iranian politics for the last 30 years.

It is unclear what will come next. News out of the nation has been difficult to come by, as the government shut off mobile text messaging Friday, as well as nearly all social networking sites and international foreign news channels. Two Dutch reporters were ordered to be expelled from the country after they were arrested, and there are reports that all foreign media, including the BBC, were being kicked out. However, the social media site Twitter has avoided being blocked, and much of the news being reported is coming through via "tweets" from foreign correspondents and Iranian citizens.

Foreign governments, including the United States and several European Union members, have expressed their doubts with the legitimacy of the election results. This comes as a major blow to US president Barack Obama, whose hopes of engaging Iran in a political dialogue now seem to be slipping away. If he were to engage Iran's newly-elected government, he would lose a great deal of credibility by speaking with a government whose own credibility is now greatly in doubt.

There is speculation that the election results could spark a "Green Revolution", the color worn by Mousavi's supporters, in what some say could resemble the 1979 Islamic Revoultion that ousted the western-supported shah of Iran. That revolution was supported by a large student population, and the large number of youth supporters for Mousavi is drawing similar comparisons.

It seems as though much of what happens next will lie in Mousavi's hands. His supporters are extremely loyal to him, and though he has called for peaceful protests, a lack of real action on his behalf would likely lose him a great deal of support, and render him useless in Iran's future political arena. However, he must be careful in his actions, as the standing government obviously has a great deal of control over the nation. Word on Mousavi's next move could be coming late Sunday, as he is reported to be giving a speech in Tehran's Freedom Square.

Should Mousavi choose to act and continue to encourage protests while also pursuing actions diplomatically, there is a real possibility of revolution in Iran. If the allegations of vote doctoring are true, and the number of Mousavi and fellow opposition supporters are what they are reported to be, the will of those people could overcome the will of Ahmadenijad.

[Social Media] Revolution in Moldova

In Chisinau, the capital of ex-Soviet state Moldova, the social media revolution might have found its face - in a real-life revolution.

Tens of thousands of people, most of them students and other young adults, have gathered in the capital city to protest what they call a rigged election by the Communist Party, headed by president Vladimir Voronin. Protestors say the ruling party manipulated elections to show a 50% majority, which allows them to change the nation's constitution to hand Voronin a third term, currently not allowed under Moldovan law.

President Voronin claims neighboring Romania, whose relationship with the Moldovan premier has continually deteriorated since Voronin came into office as president in 2001, has played a major role in the opposition protests. Voronin does have a history of bad blood with Romania, stemming from his time as Moldova's Interior Minister from 1989-90 under Soviet rule. Pro-Romanian protesters set his headquarters on fire in 1989. He has claimed recently that Romania, a newly-inducted member of the European Union, was trying to "absorb" Moldova.

Wenesday, Voronin declared Romanian ambassador to Moldova Filip Teodorescu "personae non grata", and ordered him and his envoy expelled from the state within 24 hours. Later that day, Romania appointed a new envoy, headed by diplomat Mihnea Constantinescu, who served as chief of staff to the past two Romanian prime ministers, Adrian Nastase and Calin Popescu Tariceanu. Prior to that, he was the Romanian secretary of state.

The most interesting facet of this story, however, is the manner in which the protests, which have destroyed government buildings and led to over 200 arrests so far since they began Tuesday, were organized. Much of the organization came via online social media networks Twitter and Facebook, a hint that such sites might finally be recognized internationally as something more than mere places to chat and network.

On Twitter, which allows users 140 characters to post messages, which are consolidated in a search-engine type of forum, the hashtag #pman served as a place for protesters to organize themselves and communicate with thousands of other protesters in Chisinau.

Another website has mashed up a Twitter feed with pictures, video, blog posts, and articles relating to the protests.

Thursday afternoon, Twitter users involved in the protests were claiming that Russian instigators were inducing rioting within crowds to spurn more arrests, as well as Moldovan secret police using surveillance and undercover operations to quell protesters. Reports that Facebook was shut down by the Moldovan government were also coming out via Twitter. Still, Thursday, sentiments remained strong amongst the online community involved in the protests, who were "Tweeting" in several languages, including Romanian, Russian, and English.

"[Voronin] must understand, we no longer support communism," said one protester. Another message being "Tweeted" by protesters stated: "Friday, at 10 a.m., we will be there. With a flower in our hand, and without vandalism. We are not thugs!"

As technology has evolved so quickly over the past ten years, so has the generation that was brought up with that technology. As this generation, my generation, comes of age and realizes its potential, so it is realizing the tool belt around its waist is larger and contains more tools than any generation before it. And so it just might be this generation, the online generation, that could use that ever-expanding tool belt to rebuild and restructure the world we live in.

New Times Call For New Methods

Okay, so I'm doing all my pre-graduation prepping, and keep asking myself how I am going to get a job in an industry that is everywhere shedding jobs. The best thing I can think of is to formulate a model of news format and delivery that would be most appealing and accessible to people like me.

I recently surveyed people on the Internet about news, social media, and new media. Of the 140 responses, 125, or 89% were aged 16-24, 6% were aged 25-34, 2% were aged 35-49, and 3% were aged 50+. Admittedly, the survey was directed, primarily, at the 16-24 year old age group because that is the age group that will be “tomorrow’s generation” of news consumers.

The first question I asked was how often respondents used social media such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Stumble, or other social media network. 98% of respondents said they used social media at least once a day, while 58% said they used social media at least five times per day I then asked the respondents’ main source of news. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents said that the Internet was their main source, compared to 19% for television, and 4% for newspapers. One person stated that magazines were their main source of news. No one answered selected radio.

The responses to these questions demonstrate that younger people are using social networking widely and the Internet is their main source of news. Although this survey represents a small sample, the results are indicative of a generally wider use of internet resources across the population.

I next asked for the respondent’s opinion on three questions:

1. Do you feel more connected to a story when it involves or is reported by someone of your age group?
2. Would you liked to be more involved in the news process, i.e. communicating with reporters and producers, suggesting story ideas, and getting feedback?
3. Would you like to see more international news (news outside of the United States) being reported?

Answers to the first question were split right down the middle, with seventy saying yes and seventy saying no. Although the quality of the reporting is definitely the most important thing to people, many young adults feel more connected to someone like Anderson Cooper and other younger reporters. Reporters that deliver quality reports, and appear to understand the issues of their audience, are likely to be more trusted, and, thus, more viewed. The second question was answered similarly -- split nearly down the middle. Seventy-six people said they wanted more interaction, Sixty-four said they did not.

The third question produced an overwhelming response. Eighty-four per cent of those polled said they wanted to see more international news reported by the American media. It seems to me that the American media, as a whole, focuses very little attention on what happens outside of the United States. This became apparent to me when I was working on the Mumbai terror story in November. At the time, when I talked to people back home, many people knew little, if anything, about it. I checked all American websites. There was little more than a headline and brief story buried among the other news items. The Mumbai attacks were one of the biggest terrorist actions in recent history. Despite the severe international implications, much of the story went unreported in the United States. I find this unacceptable and so, apparently, do many other people. Americans, I think, generally, are trying to become more educated about the world. Keen to the realization that America is not the only nation in the world that has an impact on our everyday interests, a major market exists for international news. Someone has to come up with a way to reach that market.

After offering my respondents several multiple-choice questions, I gave them an opportunity to elaborate. “What is the most important subject to you that you would like to see reported more extensively on any level (local, national, international),” I asked. 128 people responded. Forty-nine responses dealt with international news, and 17 with international conflict and war. Some of the responses:

• “International relations, putting conflicts into context and getting a real picture of how the world views America and our policies”
• “I would like to see more attention paid to international news from different perspectives, breaking from the normal American view.”
• “international affairs; human rights issues/violations; environmental advances; technological developments”
• “INTERNATIONAL NEWS PLEASE! I don't care about octo-mom.”
• “I'd like to see coverage that gave more context to stories. Covering the breaking news story isn't enough for me, I want to hear and read about the people directly affected by that news. A story becomes more real, to me, if I know how an event impacted peoples' lives.”
• “I would like to get a better insight as to how the rest of the world truly views the United States. Don't just show me protests and US flags burning, but really tell me how other people are reacting to the actions of the US”
• “Definitely the human aspect of international war.”
• “I'm no expert but I have a different sort of view on this question - if I want to read about specific international affairs issues I'll go to bbc.com, if I want a general overview of what's going on in the world I'll go to cnn.com, etc. I'm a fan of news sources that find their niche and do an outstanding job covering that subject matter.”

The way I see things, and my findings support this, there needs to be an Internet platform for in-depth, quality international reporting. There are few, if any, places on the web that combine all aspects of journalism in one place to make a product that can appeal across generations and hit all the demographics of news users.

I have also noticed that many in the generation that did not grow up with the Internet are following the lead of the tech-savvy generation and working hard to learn what is going on with all this “new media”. In the last few months, 12 of my aunts and uncles have signed up for Facebook, as have both of my 53-year old parents, my 80-year-old grandmother, and my 84-year-old great aunt. People are realizing how much the internet is being used for everything these days, and are starting to catch up with the times.

Therefore, how do we in the media take advantage of this phenomenon? After scanning news sources all over the Internet for years, and even more since I was with CBS last fall, I noted the best of what I found, and came up with a website plan. This online-only news website would feature original video content in the form of pieces and extended interviews, original photos, AP-style original web stories, a blog platform for producers, correspondents, and others involved, a microblog (like Twitter), and the opportunity for users to interact with producers and correspondents in real-time.

The focus of this site’s media would be on the most important international news of the time. Budget restraints could inhibit the site’s coverage at first, but I think properly launched and managed, an audience would quickly grow. To tell the best story, reporters and producers need to be on the ground in those locations. On the other hand, an interactive technology-enriched audience could be groomed as contributors when having someone “there” just is not possible.

Humanization is the key to this project, which is why I think that all aspects of journalism need to be incorporated. Original video puts people there, seeing what is happening in “real time”. Photos capture a point of time and emotion that sometimes tell the best stories. Including a typical AP-style story will appeal to readers. A blog platform (think World Watch) helps humanize producers and reporters by giving them the ability to voice emotion they might not typically include in a regular story. They can also use this to update people on what they are currently working on, or even solicit input on trends, events, or possible stories. The microblog allows instant communication with a Twitter community that is hungry for the humanized correspondent. Journalists are already seeing increases in their appeal through this form of new media. Here are some relative examples:

Rick Sanchez
Richard Quest
Terry Moran

Claire McCaskill, one of the senators from the state of Missouri, and a rising star in the Democratic Party, is on Twitter. In a recent “tweet” McCaskill reported, “CBS just wanted to know if tweeting was a fad or here to stay. I said here to stay. Easy, fun, and helps me stay connected to people at home.”

The plane crash in Amsterdam was first reported on Twitter.

And here is a story about the growing need for newsrooms to keep pace.

At my current station, an NBC affiliate, and the number one station in the market, we are already putting much of this into place. Except for our news director, assignment editor, web editor, and senior producer, students run the station nearly completely. As a reporter, I pitch three or four stories each morning for my shift. Usually, I am assigned one of those. I then have until 5 P.M. to shoot my video, arrange and perform my interviews, write and edit my script, record voice-overs, edit the video and voice-overs into a piece, and prepare for live or on-set shots. Stills from my video are used for our website. I also write a web story different from my television package, and the TV hit (with piece) is uploaded to the web with “web extras”, such as extended interviews or extra information not included in my piece. We are encouraged to use Twitter throughout the day to keep viewers updated on what we’re working on for the evening news. It all seems to be working. KOMU was the first station in mid-Missouri to go 100% high definition. Each year brings several Emmy’s, Peabody’s, and Hearst awards. The station is currently getting a new set, complete, so I've heard, with touch-screen technology, new green screens, and other technologies that many top-20 markets do not yet have.

Now, what about the money? Obviously, the biggest question in these times is how something like this could be funded. First of all, there would be a lot of multi-tasking by the staff. A skeleton crew would, initially, do it all. With limited newsroom support, this could even be one person. Travel costs necessary to put someone “on-the-spot” would be limited. Producers and reporters might often be the same job, and sometimes producers may have to shoot and reporters edit. Sometimes a cameraman would be paired up with a reporter/producer. Everyone would have to learn to edit, write, shoot (both video and still), and learn how to use the web efficiently. This would be a small-time operation at first and would require a lot of work and dedication by those who were doing it, but what is the point of putting out a product produced by non-dedicated people?

Then comes the question of revenue generation. Marketing would initially focus on a readily available existing base of readers: the Internet. Facebook currently has 175 million active users and is growing quickly. Three billion minutes are spent on Facebook worldwide each day. Each user has an average of 120 friends. The fastest growing demographic is aged 30+. If there is a larger platform for marketing and advertising, it is difficult to imagine. And the best thing…it’s free! Twitter has millions of users and is growing quickly. Links and word of mouth could do much of the marketing for the product by itself, for free. The expanse of social media is the perfect platform for advertising and marketing. For a generation with an ever-shorter attention span, they want news a simple click away.

The growth of social media is just starting to blossom and people are beginning to realize its possibilities. The stories on this site could easily be linked to my anyone with a blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Digg, which are things that I believe soon many people across the globe will be using as a normal part of life. Also, with the growth of multi-purpose mobile phones, people can get their news at hand at any time. They don’t want to sit through commercials or carry around a gaudy paper when they can sift through what interests them with a small device in the palm of their hand, and share those things instantly with other people.

The idea behind all of this is that once a group of people find out about a good idea on the Internet, it spreads like wildfire. Likewise, with the growth of the Internet, new news can become old news in a matter of hours, and often times, people want information before the Evening News starts. No one has yet found a great new way of doing the news. Once someone does, they are likely to be the leader in tomorrow’s news generation. A multiplatform news source would appeal to all users (television, print, radio) because it would include all of those things. The idea, after all, is to get viewers to consume our product, no matter how they access it.

People are catching on quickly. CNN might be the current leader, but has yet to pull it all together. Other organizations have pieces in place, but remain behind. Company leaders should realize they need to put faith in a younger generation’s ideas. In a business that has forever put the most glory on those journalists that have the most experience, while I realize that the experience these journalists have is very important, must realize changing times call for changing methods. Journalism is an inherent part of society that cannot be marginalized or sacrificed. Finding the means to put out a superior and competitive product is necessary. Sitting idly by worrying who will have a job tomorrow is not acceptable. A bold and active approach is demanded. I have found out in my short life that the worst that can happen in any situation is someone will tell you no. For something in which I believe, I would take a million no’s for that one yes. If this plan can help me get a job, it can also offer further security to other journalists while bringing a new and exciting model of news delivery to the world.

Starting Off

I am starting this blog to tell the stories of those not fortunate enough to tell it themselves. It will also include personal stories and updates. Feel free to contact me:

Resume/CV, Twitter, Email