IP Democracy: Soldier-Made War Videos Find Their Way Online

This piece by the BBC’s Richard Allen Greene highlights a fascinating 21st century pheonomenon: troops in battle posting videos from the scene. The article focuses on how the Pentagon keeps a tight rein on what kinds of video soliders can post on YouTube, MySpace or an intriguing site called Ogrish.com.

Allegedly the Pentagon has hired civilian contractors to monitor what kinds of videos troops post to the web.

And a longstanding military public affairs officer in Iraq said the Pentagon is also worried about some of the images that are appearing online.

“There’s continuing concern about the use of these videos and stills being used by our enemies to propagate the false notion that our military members are barbaric, warmongers - which is unequivocally not the case.

“And… many of these videos and photos can harm force protection and operational security measures.”

While sites like Military.com try to avoid videos that are dismaying or too graphic, Ogrish.com (which is truly gruesome) sees its mission as uncovering the brutality of war.

But such images are precisely the mission of Ogrish.com, according to co-owner Hayden Hewitt.

“There is a distinct misapprehension in the West about what war is like. They think it’s a gentlemanly thing. People have forgotten how grotesque war is.”

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 30, 2006 11:38 AM to IP Democracy