One of the most interesting elements of Brazil's protests, which continue to simmer across the country in smaller numbers, is the use of new media to plan, broadcast, and report on the demonstrations. Mídia Ninja is perhaps the best known group to emerge, and has used social media and webcasting as tools to cover the protests.
Given its role, Mídia Ninja could have simply been evidence of a rise in citizen journalism, but it has also gained a role as a protagonist in the protests. On July 22, during a Rio protest on day one of the Pope's visit to Brazil, two Mídia Ninja reporters were arrested (and subsequently released) after police claimed they were trying to "incite violence" by broadcasting the event. A total of seven people were arrested, and one of the protesters was initially denied bail. He spoke to ninja reporters with the hope that someone would find a video to prove his innocence and through social media, Mídia Ninja advocated for his release. The coverage worked, and he was released on Tuesday afternoon. Nevertheless, the backlash against the arrests exploded on social media, and while the full repercussions have yet to be seen, there are echoes of police brutality and arrests of journalists at Occupy Wall Street. And if the original São Paulo protests proved anything, it's that police violence against journalists will fuel the protests even more.
Plus, Midia Ninja gained enough clout that Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes gave reporters an interview this week. The interview surprised traditional journalists, some of whom felt the ninjas were unprepared. But the fact that the mayor appears to have offered the interview indicates how far the group has come.
To learn more about the group, I spoke to Felipe Altenfelder, one of the Mídia Ninja editors, about the "ninjas" and the future of citizen journalism in Brazil.
This group arose out of another organization called Casa Fora do Eixo in São Paulo. The collective of artists and cultural producers was created in 2005 and sought to promote and produce art, cultural events, and online content. Developed by Fora do Eixo's communications team, Mídia Ninja--which stands for Independent Narratives, Journalism and Action--came about after using new digital tools and contact with traditional journalists in São Paulo. In fact, one of the founders, Bruno Torturra, quit his job in the mainstream media to start Mídia Ninja.
Mídia Ninja is now present in 200 cities across Brazil, in places Fora do Eixo previously established networks. "The ninja is defined by working collectively," Altenfelder explained. "It's not anonymous; it's a collective identity." During the protests, the ninjas broadcast the demonstrations on livestream channels on Twitcasting and on the group's channel, PosTV. They also posted live updates and photos on Twitter and Facebook, as well as Tumblr, Google Plus, Instagram, and Flickr. In some cases, ninjas use iPhones or bare bones equipment; in others, they push around a shopping cart complete with a generator, speakers, a computer, cameras, a microphone, and an editing table. "We want to democratize information," ninja Filipe Peçanha told O Dia. "The purpose is to show what conventional TV networks don't show."
The concept of livestreaming came about in 2011 when Fora do Eixo created PosTV to originally broadcast concerts. Later, it was used to broadcast the Freedom March, which took place after São Paulo's so-called Marijuana March experienced a crackdown by police. In 2012, PosTV did a month-long, daily broadcast before São Paulo's local elections. Altenfelder explained that digital communication methods used by Mídia Ninja not only help create new protagonists, but are a tool to support and promote "direct, participatory democracy."
But where does Mídia Ninja fit in within the world of journalism? The group never tried to be a part of that world, Altenfelder explained. Still, he noted, "journalism is alive and well," and people are hungry for information. Mídia Ninja represents an "alternate model led by a new generation of independent, autonomous, empowered communicators who no longer trust the news that's for sale." The way Mídia Ninja covers the news, Altenfelder believes, will influence mass media in the long term. The group, Altenfelder claims, "is a global embassy in this new world of possibilities."
Now Mídia Ninja is planning its next steps. The group plans to expand PosTV's activities and increase the number of ninja collaborators. It also will launch a website, which will feature blogs by traditional journalists and act as a communication hub for other citizen journalist initiatives. "We're pretty optimistic," Altenfelder said. With the expansion of the middle class, more people are empowered, which expands people's abilities to reflect critically on the world around them. "There's no going back now," he noted.
Image: Ninja Felipe Peçanha films a police officer on an iPhone. Courtesy of Mídia Ninja.
Updated July 23 with information on Midia Ninja arrests.
I wish the Midia Ninja success and hope they are able to grow and continue to offer the "real" events which the large corporate news sellers tend to ignore or gloss over. Just last night on the CNN channel carried by cable providers in Brasil the major topic was the royal baby. Huh? That merits perhaps 15 seconds, but instead was the primary topic while news of the Papal visit to Brasil was basically ignored.
The demise of what was once "news" in the media is well documented, news was never expected to generate a TV network money. It was a "loss leader". Now, with the corporatisation of media, every department must show a profit, including news. That means news must attract sponsors, and so who is now going to run a story adverse to a major sponsor? You end up with FoxNews (often referred to as FauxNews), "news" with a political agenda and sponsors to pay for it.
The one major problem I see with Midia Ninja is that they involve themselves in the events which then become news, and by doing so risk losing impartiality. Having a reporter (or two) arrested is one thing, but having a protester who happened to also be a reporter, arrested is not quite the same thing. Reporting is one thing, participating is another. The two should be separate, though I recognize that can be a difficult thing with Rio police seemingly unable to distinguish vandals from peaceful protesters and already having shot a number of reporters with rubber bullets.
Posted by: PTRio | July 23, 2013 at 03:15 PM
I was excited to see a story in the UK Guardian about Media Ninja. That was the first I heard of these "citizen reporters." The amazing thing is that a month before I sent letters and e mails to a bunch of US alternative news sites with the idea or organizing almost exactly the same thing but on a world wide scale. How can this movement be expanded to more countries? We all suffer at the hands of the Corporate Media. My proposal is 3 pages so too long for this space. I would be happy to e mail it to anyone interested. Here is the first page.
On organizing an online site: (new title) Democratize the media with citizen reporters. It's happening in Brazil!
Proposal: That a group of Media activists create a web site devoted to reporting, with a particular emphases on visual images, the struggles of working people, students and others engaged in fighting the aggressive policies of neo-liberal capitalism worldwide. It is inevitable that more and more strikes and mass demonstrations will be erupting as the crisis deepens and we all (the 99 or whatever percent have decided they have had enough) desperately need to see the scope of these struggles in order to draw inspiration from them. We have spent years now criticizing and analyzing the Corporate Media. They can not be “reformed.” Now it is high time for us to compete with their bankrupt propaganda mill. We are strong enough in numbers to win the attention of the worlds people. The only thing holding us back is ourselves. As the Corporate Media closes their foreign branches we will be opening ours. Such a site would do wonders to unify the global movement for human rights.
The site would need to be staffed by some experienced professionals but mostly it would need to rely on thousands of volunteer “reporters” who will jump at the chance to help inform the world of what is happening in their area. So there are three sides to this proposal: maintaining the web site, organizing a base of reporters and thirdly, develop through practice and discussions what the responsibilities are for a global pro working class media. This is a Wikipedia kind of project. It will face some difficult problems in terms of finding trustworthy and reliable reporters but it is doable because it will necessarily rely on folks who want this project to succeed. It will have to start small. Reporters would have to come from trustworthy contacts of the founding group. This is an expanding circle that should begin to reach around the world in a few months (whatever it takes). Reporters would be required to uphold the professional standards of the organization while they get pictures and write up a few sentences to explain the issues. They would also be responsible for informing the participants (in the action they are covering) about this site that will be reporting their action. Organizing around the reporters on such a scale may well have a very positive and unifying affect on the world movement against Corporate power.
Posted by: Vic Coffield | September 04, 2013 at 04:49 PM