#Neda and the Power of the Viral Image

The 37-second amateur video that shows in vivid and horrifying detail a young girl named Neda dying of a gunshot wound on the streets of Tehran has the capacity to change the political dynamic in Iran. It may already have done so.

I will not link to the video here. The decision to watch it should be made carefully, knowing it is sickening and likely to remain with you for the rest of your life. You can easily find links to it on this site if you want.

I found it nearly overwhelming. I had to step away from the computer and gather myself. Afterward when describing it to my wife my voice was shaking and I couldn't quite formulate my thoughts.

The morning after viewing it I can say this: I believe that 37-second clip can transform global opinion.

I liken it to the 1972 photograph of the young Vietnamese girl running naked through the streets, her skin seared by the chemical burn of napalm. Or the 1963 picture of police dogs attacking civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama. Both, it is argued, played a key role in galvanizing public opinion on the political issues they represented.

For me, and I suspect many who view it, the Neda video says with absolute clarity: The violent crackdown on street protesters in Tehran must not stand. The perpetrators must be stopped or removed. It says this more plainly and powerfully than anything else I've encountered.

It eliminates any ambivalence or subtlety one might have about the situation there.

Last night I was actually wondering how a government responsible for Neda's death -- in an environment where cheap, instant, global, many-to-many communications has brought the phrase "the whole world is watching" closer to literal fact than it was in the 1960s -- can possibly remain in power.

In the cool light of morning I realize that was dramatic hyperbole, heavily colored by emotion.

But still: That 37-second video has already become a singular, powerful fact driving global opinion. Its impact will only accelerate and expand. It will have consequences.

Let me also predict that the mainstream media is going to miss the import of that video. Partly because they dare not show it, and thus it will not become part of their newsrooms' collective consciousness-or conscience.

But also because they still tend to view amateur, viral "reporting" as marginal "bonus" material, incapable of driving public thought in the way their own professional reporting and opinionating can.

There is a #Neda hashtag on Twitter. It captures conversations about and inspired by the video.

Yet it is now being added as a hashtag to general Twitterizing on the election protests, as an expression of commitment at least as powerful as the green avatars that hover like nauseated witnesses over the 140-character global thoughtstream.

Much is made about Twitter and its limited ability to drive change.

This isn't about that.

It's about the power of a single, brief incident captured on video -- in an environment where people share what moves them instantly with a global audience, without the assistance or approval of governments, media or any institution -- to change others' minds.

Change the world?

In the cool light of morning, I realize that's foolish too.

But if you are feeling strong and brave and willing to have a horrifying image seared into your brain, view the video.

It will change you.

Follow Craig Stoltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craigstoltz

Comments

[Bluedogdemocrat8650]

I felt like i lost a piece of my soul, and perhaps innocence that i didnt know i still had left. And if i had to do it over again, i would have never watched it.

[PriscilaNeri]

Hey Craig - thanks for such a powerful post. I too think the video of Neda can have enormous impact in changing hearts, minds, and perhaps even policies.

However, one less-talked-about aspect of the video of Neda is her own dignity - would she (or her family) have wanted her bloodied face in the last moment of her life to become this instant symbol and viral sensation? As a human rights activist who wants to get the word out but also respect this young woman's last breath and family's grief, I feel really torn about my responsibilities to her and about the ethics of bearing witness to such tragedy.

Also, I wonder what will happen to the people whose faces are shown in the hundreds of videos of the protests that are circulating online? In Burma, after the 2007 Saffron Revolution, more than 1000 people were reportedly arrested simply for filming, distributing, or appearing in video of the protests - could the same happen now with Iranian authorities (as it did in the 1999 uprising)? Could they use these videos to further persecute activists and citizens who are speaking up? If so, what precautions should/could we collectively take to mitigate those risks?

I wrote a post about this today - would really love to hear your thoughts on it... http://hub.witness.org/en/node/13606 -

Thanks,
Priscila Witness.orgg)

[wkitwizard]

Just as the Vietnam black and white image of a naked child, burned with napalm electrified newspaper and magazine audiences world-wide, so too, the brief seconds of this poor teenage girl's life. We in America should be outraged and horrified. Too often we've seen people across the globe struggling against the most evil of governments with just their voices and songs, and we Americans watch helplessly as they are beaten and die.

[Soulmentor]

I have watched that film 3 times since it first appeared. Each time I weep, as I do when I see the other films of the bravery and hope of Iranian people.

There is another photo I believe is iconic of the current Iranian struggle. It is the photo of young men sheltering a young injured policemen while leading him away from the source of his injuries. Not just leading him away, but holding back others and covering his head with their hands, protecting him.......offering love in the midst of so much anger. It convulsed my heart and still does even as I write this.

I sent a message of support to Iranians on web sites I frequent and I have received dozens of responses, some with first hand accounts of death and injuries.....and along with nearly all of them, expressions of friendship and affection for America and Americans. THEY KNOW WE SUPPORT THEM, and and they know there is little we can do other than our messages of support. The replies I am getting indicate that very many Iranians still have internet access despite the governments prevention efforts. But they may be randomly monitored so make no overt condemnations of the Iranian regime. Say nothing that can be construed as insurrectionist in nature. Merely express your caring emotional and spiritual support.

Since it is all we can do, it is the least we can do. And tho I am Christian, I echo their spirit.....
Allah hu Akbar

[slw0606]

Sadly, Neda will only be one of the more well known martrys - those who have already died and the many more that will still die to overthrow this monstrous regime.

[flange]

My understanding is that CNN did actually play the film which floors me just a little. I share the concern of people that this may not be what she or possibly her family want, but taken in the context of her participation in the protest and the Shiite tradition of martyrdom, it seems almost criminal not to have it be seen. The Basij, it has been suggested, beat and murdered people and dragged the bodies away so as to hide what they had done . . . the point of these viral videos, horrifying as they are, is not to let them get away with it.

[SouthJerseySteve]

This is Iran's "Tienanmen Square" moment -- both Iran and the world has changed forever (hopefully for the better). Watch out Saudi Arabia, your 15th-century Monarchy anti-Democracy is next to fall.

[Ira7]

Excellent, excellent piece. And what the author says below really sums it up for me:

"Let me also predict that the mainstream media is going to miss the import of that video. Partly because they dare not show it, and thus it will not become part of their newsrooms' collective consciousness--or conscience."

How do you purport that you're trulyreporting the news when you won't even show it? And I just don't understand the excuse of "respect for the person's/family's privacy."

Seems like they're more interested in not losing viewers who can't handle an image like that ,and will change the channel.

[Beelzebufo]

Neda can feel no pain now. She is at peace. Pray for those who knew and loved her intimately. They are the ones who must deal with the horror and loss now.

[WeMustSpeakOut]

You are correct. While viewing it, I wished I could turn back and had never clicked the play button. This was one of the most tragic, horrifying, haunting and heartbreaking things I have ever seen. I still feel waves of despair and nausea and a coldness in my bones just thinking about it. No matter how I try, I remain unable to purge the images from my memory or free my body and mind from the physical feeling the images induce.

Yet while I cringe every time I see her beautiful face covered in the blood of her death, I understand the power of it. While I struggle with concern that the line of moral decency is crossed by plastering about the intimate images of her last moments in media throughout the world, I understand it is imperative that the murderous acts of the Iranian government be broadly seen in the light of day.

The Iranian peoples struggle for freedom only gathers strength, energy and conviction from Neda’s death and other innocents like her. Her murder was senseless, obscene and ultimately cruel. The most I can hope for is that the raw and ugly display of the truth of her slaughter rapidly increases pressure on the Iranian regime to stand down.
If only it were that simple.