With 1.4 billion smartphones shipped in 2015 alone, it's no wonder that selfies and photos posted on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and millions of other sites are making what was once very personal highly public. But few expected the smartphone to be the instrument that made civil rights, racial discrimination and police brutality a new rallying cry for justice in the 21st century.
Twenty-four years ago, a grainy black and white video showed five LAPD officers beating Rodney King, a black man who had been speeding on the Foothill Freeway. After giving chase, they cornered him and tried to arrest him. King resisted and was beaten quite mercilessly with batons.
The L.A. police were taught not to pull their weapons lest a perpertrator grab a gun and use it against them. Today, after two dramatic police shootings of apparently unarmed black men, according to video taken by smartphones, rules from 1991 do not seem to apply.
Several years ago, when the Internet was becoming omnipresent, the meme that circulated among the chattering classes was citizen journalism. Today, that meme has become reality — and with the killing of Walter Scott, we're seeing the power of citizen journalists, armed with smartphone cameras, to change the public debate.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: