Millions of people have watched footage of Philando Castile death since it was streamed live on app
Scott Collins | July 8, 2016 @ 6:58 PM
Last Updated: July 9, 2016 @ 10:29 AM
Facebook Live
Was this the breakout week for Facebook Live?
The streaming app on the social media site became world-famous when the fatal police shooting of Philando Castile was broadcast in real time from a cell phone, with millions of subsequent views. One expert called it a “watershed moment.” That was followed hours later with numerous Facebook Live postings and other cell-phone video as a gunman in Dallas killed five officers at a rally protesting police violence.
For many, it summoned up memories of the Arab Spring of 2010-11, when uprisings in Middle Eastern countries were abetted by Twitter and other social media. Facebook first offered Facebook Live to VIP accounts last year and introduced it to the general public at the start of 2016.
Because of its capacity to make controversial events immediately accessible to millions (and watchable later as well), Facebook Live could, as many activists claim, empower citizens to hold public officials accountable.
But it also has the potential to alter the rules of engagement for journalists already struggling with the effects of other social media.
“Good news is that citizen journalists will provide news organizations and audiences more real-time content than ever before,” Joe Concha, the media reporter for The Hill, told TheWrap. “The quality is quite good, when just a few years ago it would be grainy. Everybody has an HD camera on them now via their phones.”
But this explosion of user-created video creates pitfalls for journalists.
“The bad news is that news organizations will use videos irresponsibly like we saw last night [in Dallas], when an officer’s execution was shown on live TV complete with play-by-play narration,” Concha added.
Robert Thompson, a TV historian and professor at Syracuse University, pointed out that eyewitness video has a long history. The Zapruder film capturing the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy was made by an ordinary bystander, although that footage was not widely seen by the public until years later.
In the early 1990s, the police beating of Rodney King was caught on videotape, setting off a chain of events that ultimately led to riots in Los Angeles.
Facebook Live is the latest wrinkle. “What we’ve got here is the new technologies version of what we used to call an eyewitness,” Thompson said.
The availability of a social-media network, however, gives users a distribution platform they didn’t have before. And that only heightens the burdens for a mainstream media trying to play catch-up.
“They still have a responsibility,” Thompson said, “to vet and contextualize that stuff.”
The Scene in Baltimore Following Freddie Gray's Death (Photos)
Freddie Gray suffered catastrophic injuries after he was arrested on Apr. 12 for running from Baltimore police. He slipped into a coma and died on Apr. 19.
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Protesters marched toward the Baltimore Police Western District station in a stand against police brutality and the death of Freddie Gray
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Protesters clashed with police during a march through Baltimore in honor of Freddie Gray on Apr. 25
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Gray's casket was unloaded for his funeral on Apr. 27, drawing thousands of people from all over the country
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Following Gray's funeral, at least 15 Baltimore police officers were injured on Apr. 27 when riots broke out in response to Gray's death
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Protesters set fires in the streets of Baltimore on Apr. 27 following Gray's funeral
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Cars were burned as rioters threw rocks and bricks at the police on Apr. 27
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Several police cars were destroyed by the crowds on Apr. 27
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A CVS pharmacy in Western Baltimore became symbolic of the riot when it was looted and burned on Apr. 27
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Riots continued throughout the night on Apr. 27
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By the end of the night on Apr. 27, nearly 200 people had been arrested
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Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan walked out of an interview with Don Lemon on Apr. 27, after the CNN anchor questioned their decision making
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A National Guardsman kept watch over a deserted Baltimore street on Apr. 28
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Burned out cars and wreckage smoldered as Baltimore prepared for an enforced curfew on Apr. 28
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One protestor laid down in the street in front of riot police on Apr. 28 rather than abide by the city-wide curfew
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Police fired tear gas into the crowd as residents resisted a city-wide 10 p.m. curfew on Apr. 28
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Fearful of large crowds and the safety of fans, the Baltimore Orioles played the Chicago White Sox on Apr. 29 in an empty stadium, the first time such a game has occurred
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Baltimore Orioles players beat the Chicago White Sox in an empty stadium on Apr. 29, with some pretending to sign autographs for invisible fans
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Protests spread on Apr. 29 to New York City as around 140 people were arrested in Union Square
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The outbound Holland Tunnel in New York was shut down on Apr. 29 as protestors flooded the streets
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New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony joined protesters in Baltimore on Apr. 30, the NBA All-Star grew up in Charm City
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Demonstrators clashed with police in Philadelphia during a march dubbed "Philly is Baltimore" on Apr. 30
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Violent protests took over the city as thousands demonstrated after the 25-year-old man died in police custody on Apr. 19
Freddie Gray suffered catastrophic injuries after he was arrested on Apr. 12 for running from Baltimore police. He slipped into a coma and died on Apr. 19.