New citizen video activism

Speak. Truth. To. Power.

Great story from New York. Guy calling himself Jimmy Justice videos Traffic Cops breaking traffic rules — parking by a fire hydrant whilst getting lunch for example. Here's his YouTube channel.

He hides his identity because he fears retaliation.

“The complaints have not been answered,” he said. “So I had no other method of recourse. I had to bring it to YouTube and bring it to the people what life is like in the city for the average man who has to live in the city.”





Jeff Jarvis reports that when Jimmy got onto the Today Show (NBC's breakfast show) they labeled him: “It’s a little obnoxious. Do you not worry about coming off as an obnoxious, aggressive guy here?”

My local cycling campaign is doing the same - showing the risks cyclists are under from motorists at various 'pinch points' around the city.

Gee, that's close ...



How would activists have shown this problem before YouTube/GoogleVideo? You couldn't. And how long before someone catches a UK official in-the-act and that goes mainstream?