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U.S. Government Photos and Graphics Most of these images and graphics are available for use in the public domain, and they may be used and reproduced without permission or fee. However, some images may be protected by license. We strongly recommend you thoroughly read the disclaimers on each site before use. For information about obtaining seals of Federal Agencies and the United States, please see the Government Printing Office website.

This article was looks at the role of new media in Sri Lanka and mentions other places. It briefly looks at the politics and history of the conflict in SL and the problems (assassinations, kidnapping, threats and deportation by the government and police)  of conventional reporting from SL. Can Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and new media help promote human rights and good governance?\n\nNew media and ICTs can be used by illiberal regimes as well as by civilians, but overall it can be used to strengthen democracy, record violence and holds those responsible up for public scrutiny. Mobile phones are redefining our idea of what a journalist is. online reports and bogs are unstoppable because they are decentralized. there are all ways more bloggers if a few are arrested and there are ways around the system even if some sites are blocked.\n\nSri Lanka has many mobile phones among low income groups. It also has low internet costs. But there need to be understanding of the potential of this media. people need to be motivated to participate in governance and policy beyond just at election time.\n\nInternet is 2 way communication making people feel more connected. everyone has a equal voice. Blogs can be used to show conflict and phones with cameras can add images. New media and citizen journalism is different to e-goverment initiative (where gov will open up info for public and present it online)\n\nNew Media and Citizen journo can play important role in info, relief and conflict management and in providing news pictures from disasters and conflicts. SL citizens found a ways to express concerns when mainstream media was cut off. Currently most material comes from english speakers in urban areas, but has the potential to give voice to all citizens. It is also very useful for collecting ststs such as deaths etc.\n\nRealtime video over highspeed internet offers more possibility of having many TV camera man rather than just 1 film crew.\n\nGroundviews.org

"Description Vietnam was America's most divisive and unsuccessful foreign war. It was also the first to be televised and the first of the modern era fought without military censorship. From the earliest days of the Kennedy-Johnson escalation right up to the American withdrawal, and even today, the media's role in Vietnam has continued to be intensely controversial. The "Uncensored War" gives a richly detailed account of what Americans read and watched about Vietnam. Hallin draws on the complete body of the New York Times coverage from 1961 to 1965, a sample of hundreds of television reports from 1965-73, including television coverage filmed by the Defense Department in the early years of the war, and interviews with many of the journalists who reported it, to give a powerful critique of the conventional wisdom, both conservative and liberal, about the media and Vietnam. Far from being a consistent adversary of government policy in Vietnam, Hallin shows, the media were closely tied to official perspectives throughout the war, though divisions in the government itself and contradictions in its public relations policies caused every administration, at certain times, to lose its ability to "manage" the news effectively. As for television, it neither showed the "literal horror of war," nor did it play a leading role in the collapse of support: it presented a highly idealized picture of the war in the early years, and shifted toward a more critical view only after public unhappiness and elite divisions over the war were well advanced. The "Uncensored War" is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Vietnam war or the role of the media in contemporary American politics."

Afghanistan: Pictures Not Taken 'When the press started to feel empowered to show and tell the truth, it was only a matter of time before the military and government powers would retaliate.' By Travis Beard Journalist Ash Sweeting rides in a pickup with the Afghanistan National Police. Photo by ©Travis Beard/Argusphotography. Nothing has more power to communicate the destruction and despair of our time-especially from the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan-than photography. But in the sanitized and censored environments now of government and military control, taking the picture can be as difficult as getting it published. In coverage of these wars, freelance photojournalists are indispensible. One after another, news organizations have abandoned the task of informing the public. For editors back home, photojournalists-and the images they transmit-are problematic. But it's not the photographers who pose the problem; it's the truth their images tell. During the Vietnam War, there was the searing image of nine-year-old Kim Phouc running down the road with her flesh melting and fusing into her body after a napalm strike and her brother running in front of her with an expression that recalled Edvard Munch's "The Scream." This photograph spoke to people in ways that words had failed to do. These children were ones the Americans were supposed to be saving, not bombing. Images such as this one did much to turn the tide of that war, but if they did, it was because they conveyed important truths.

"Courts have long ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of citizens to take photographs in public places. Even after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement agencies have reiterated that right in official policies. But in practice, those rules don't always filter down to police officers and security guards who continue to restrict photographers, often citing authority they don't have. Almost nine years after the terrorist attacks, which ratcheted up security at government properties and transportation hubs, anyone photographing federal buildings, bridges, trains or airports runs the risk of being seen as a potential terrorist. (Can an entire downtown be declared a no-photo zone?) Reliable statistics on detentions and arrests of photographers are hard to come by, but photographers, their advocates and even police agree that confrontations still occur frequently. Photographers had run-ins with police before the 2001 attacks, but constitutional lawyers say the combination of heightened security concerns and the spread of digital cameras has made such incidents more common. "

Why you need releases A release is a written agreement between you and the person you are photographing, or the person who owns the property you are photographing. The purpose of the release is to protect you from any future lawsuits the person might file for claims such as defamation and invasion of privacy. A model release says the person being photographed has given consent to be photographed and to the use of the images you capture. It doesn't just apply to professional models or situations where people know they are posing for photos. You should seek to get a signed model release any time that your photos contain recognizable images of people, unless you are certain that you will never want to use them for anything other than editorial purposes. A property release says that the owner of a certain property, such as a pet or a building, has given you consent to take and use images of the property. You don't need one for public property, such as government buildings (although you may run into problems just from photographing them, for security reasons). But for images of private property - and particularly of objects that are closely identified with specific people - you are safer if you get a release. The releases you obtain should be saved forever and should be linked in some way with the photographs to which they relate. You can expect to be asked to produce them whenever you license an image, and you will need them if you ever have to defend yourself in court.

THEORY - "Walker Evans and American Life" Scavenging the Landscape: Walker Evans and American life Afterimage, Jan-Feb, 1996 by Melissa Rachleff The Great American Depression, spanning the 1930s, inscribed into the culture a psychic crisis. Faith in industrial ingenuity, heralded as "progressive," came unhinged. By 1933, four years after the stock market crash, one quarter of the work force was unemployed.(1) Into this dilemma came a multitude of photographic projects, the most famous of which were sponsored by the federal government in the form of agencies that provided relief to farmers, the unemployed and others. The most completely realized project was the documentation of conditions faced by displaced farmers, recorded by the Historic Section of the Resettlement Administration (RA), later the Farm Security Administration (FSA). The socially-oriented photographic book made its appearance, as did the photographic magazine, best exemplified by Life in 1936. Many of the best known American photographers came to prominence during the Depression, including Berenice Abbott, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks and Margaret Bourke-White. Of all the photographers from that era, one represented the quintessential photographic style of the Depression while remaining an elusive figure in photographic history: Walker Evans (1903-1975).

Defending the Barricade On Feb. 1, 2006, Associated Press photographer Oded Balilty was in the West Bank settlement of Amona when a violent confrontation broke out between Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces. The troops were attempting to enforce a government order to tear down nine houses built on private Palestinian land after Israel's Supreme Court rejected a final appeal by the settlers. Balilty, camera ready, stood about 3 meters from the end of the barricade. Crowds lined up on a wall overlooking the holed-up settlers, while Israeli troops in riot gear advanced. "Nili, a young settler ... was standing 15 meters away, biting her fingernails, when she saw them coming and ran toward the barricade," Balilty said. Said Nili: "I felt a stranger pushing me to defend the barricade. It was God who gave me the courage." Moments after Balilty took the photograph that won him the Pulitzer Prize, Nili was beaten by club-wielding police.

"Truth Value" and Documentary Photography: Reading and Re-reading the FSA Lisa Van Arragon, Professor of Art Minds in the Making Editor's Note: This address was delivered at Calvin College in February 2006. It was sponsored by the Center Art Gallery in conjunction with the exhibition "Picturing Faith: Religious America in Government Photography, 1935-43." Jack Delano, Men outside church before service Image: Jack Delano, Men outside church before service The emphasis of this essay will not be the specific content of the Center Art Gallery exhibition featuring images of religious life made by the Farm Security Administration photographers during the 1930s and 1940s.

Read the Report After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account. -Maj. General Antonio M. Taguba (USA-Ret.), preface to Broken Laws, Broken Lives In PHR's new report, Broken Laws, Broken Lives, we have for the first time medical evidence to confirm first-hand accounts of men who endured torture by US personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. These men were never charged with any crime.

Thomas Keenan - Mobilizing Shame - The South Atlantic Quarterly 103:2/3 The South Atlantic Quarterly 103.2/3 (2004) 435-449 Mobilizing Shame Thomas Keenan What difference would it make for human rights discourse to take the photo opportunity seriously? Not the photo ops on behalf of human rights, but the ones coming from the other side, the other sides. What would it mean to come to terms with the fact that there are things which happen in front of cameras that are not simply true or false, not simply representations and references, but rather opportunities, events, performances, things that are done and done for the camera, which come into being in a space beyond truth and falsity that is created in view of mediation and transmission? In what follows, I wish to respond to these questions by focusing on what, within human rights activism and discourse, has come to be known as "the mobilization of shame." Shame and Enlightenment It is now an unstated but I think pervasive axiom of the human rights movement that those agents whose behavior it wishes to affect -- governments, armies, businesses, and militias -- are exposed in some significant way to the force of public opinion, and that they are (psychically or emotionally) structured like individuals in a strong social or cultural context that renders them vulnerable to feelings of dishonor, embarrassment, disgrace, or ignominy. Shame is thought of as a primordial force that articulates or links... Project MUSE® - Download/Export Citation * MLA * APA * Chicago * Endnote Keenan, Thomas, 1959-. "Mobilizing Shame." The South Atlantic Quarterly 103.2 (2004): 435-449. Project MUSE. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 22 Apr. 2009 . Always review your references for accuracy and make any necessary corrections before using. Pay special attention to personal names, capitalization, and dates. Consult your library or click here for more information on citing sources. Keenan, T

This article looks at the role, impact and response to the internet, new media and citizen journalism during the 2007 protests.\n\nIt starts by going over the history of burma and the junta and the events leading up to the 2007 protests. This protest was different than previous burmese protests due to the amount of information coming out. Cyberspace was flooded with grainy pictures and videos taken by burmese citizens,\n\nThe internet allowed people in Burma to send information and pictures out to show what was happening bringing a new type of political activism and global advocacy. The burmese protests were influenced greatly by this new media, but the protests still failed and many were killed.\n\nThe article talks about Yochai Benkler who argues the internet has opened possibilities even for those living under brutal regimes. Cheap cost and decentralisation is the main factors that are good about the internet in this situation.\n\nThe burmese media used to be free when under colonial rule. This free expression may have sparked the independence movement, but was then restricted when the army took over and restricted the media. Old media is easy to control by controling the sources (eg newspapers and TV stations). The internet is the new media model. BurmaNet, funded by the Soros foundation was one of the 1st news sites. Others followed, many based in thailand and with contacts to pro-democracy movements\n\nThe government stepped up its efforts to stop this content and prohibited the ownership of computers without approval. It also made its own propaganda websites. The 2007 protests show that even though the gov attempted to control the media the internet is uncontrollable and info will get out. Web 2.0 was also in full swing with citizen journalists uploading photos, video and blogging. The main news outlets were al using grainy amateur footage.\n\nDuring the protests the gov blocked the internet and cell phones sometimes. \n\nMuch of the blogs were outsite the co

Photographic retouching exposed April 29th, 2009 The issues surrounding photographic meaning, manipulation and Photoshop have been prominent recently (see my previous posts here and here, with some updates amongst the comments for each). Via Fred Ritchin's After Photography (see his 24 April post) comes news of a Swedish government project Girlpower dealing with sexism in advertising. One element is a magazine cover where, step-by-step, you can un-do the manipulation of the model to see how the glamorous cover was produced. You can go through each of the twelve changes that have been made, and at the end click on a red button to see the complete before and after images. We know it happens, but in this case, seeing is really believing.

The ethical and real hazards of citizen journalism People powered People powered Who is responsible for the risks taken by citizen journalists who become 'accidental' reporters in dangerous situations? This was the excellent question asked by Slawek Kozdras, a Polish student, who was in the audience when I gave a talk at Cumberland Lodge to LSE Government scholars. I was doing my usual schtick about how networked journalism could alter the terms of the political communications trade. I put up slides about activists in Burma, G20 protestors and other people using new media technologies to report where professional journalists can't go. Slawek made a good point drawn from a fellow eastern European's work: "I remember a story told in Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being. After the Soviet army stormed into Prague in 1968 the brave Czech people (as opposed to cowardly Czech politicians) were mocking the army, women were teasing with Russian soldiers, laughing at them, taking pictures with them knowing the Russians can't react. The paradox is that later on these pictures with people mocking Russians turned against the Czechs and served as evidence in trials."

Many turn to internet for Sri Lanka war news By KRISHAN FRANCIS - 11 hours ago COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - With mainstream journalists barred from Sri Lanka's war zone, Tamil expatriates desperate for news of loved ones have turned to small Web sites for reports and video from across the front lines. Much of their reporting comes from locals - some of them former journalists and aid workers - who are working anonymously in the war zone and e-mailing their reports to editors in Europe. Para Prabha said his London-based Euro Television Web site receives clips from about six reporters and cameramen working inside the war zone under dangerous circumstances. The site is devoted to issues related to Sri Lanka's Tamils and the government's offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels. "One of our reporters was killed in February, caught in artillery fire, and a lot of other colleagues have left us because it's too dangerous," Prabha said. Another Web site, War Without Witness, uses aid workers on the ground to film footage, according to one official from the site who would identify himself only as Sam. He would not name the groups helping him, fearing reprisals from the government.

10 Ways to Change the World Through Social Media Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President.

The Challenge Posted January 16th, 2008 by admin "It's a familiar scene. Following the onset of a major disease outbreak or natural disaster, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the local community must join forces and act quickly to alleviate suffering. You, your colleagues and groups that don't normally work together now need to communicate, assemble teams, share information, make plans and coordinate a response. Yet despite everyone's best intentions, a wealth of resources, deep expertise and tremendous effort, you still face challenges in trying to work together. The response once again proves confused, inefficient and far less effective than it should have been. As a population waits for help, delays mount up, resources are wasted and too little arrives too late. Will the cost, once again, be measured in human lives?"

"Unmasking Photo Opportunities, Cubistically In a 1994 photograph we see U.S. soldiers invading Haiti, lying on the airport tarmac pointing their rifles at unseen enemies. The heroic image supports the claim of the U.S. government that it is invading to support democracy, liberating a neighboring country from a dictatorship. The curious reader [of the future], however, might want to place the computer cursor on the image. Another photograph appears from beneath it; it is of the same scene but from another vantage point. U.S. soldiers are pointing their guns not at any potential enemy but at about a dozen photographers who, lined up in front of them, are photographing them. In fact, the photographers are the only ones doing any shooting."

"On the Internet, everybody is a millenarian. Internet journalism, according to those who produce manifestos on its behalf, represents a world-historical development-not so much because of the expressive power of the new medium as because of its accessibility to producers and consumers. That permits it to break the long-standing choke hold on public information and discussion that the traditional media-usually known, when this argument is made, as "gatekeepers" or "the priesthood"-have supposedly been able to maintain up to now. "Millions of Americans who were once in awe of the punditocracy now realize that anyone can do this stuff-and that many unknowns can do it better than the lords of the profession," Glenn Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor who operates one of the leading blogs, Instapundit, writes, typically, in his new book, "An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government and Other Goliaths." The rhetoric about Internet journalism produced by Reynolds and many others is plausible only because it conflates several distinct categories of material that are widely available online and didn't use to be. One is pure opinion, especially political opinion, which the Internet has made infinitely easy to purvey. Another is information originally published in other media-everything from Chilean newspaper stories and entries in German encyclopedias to papers presented at Micronesian conferences on accounting methods-which one can find instantly on search and aggregation sites. Lately, grand journalistic claims have been made on behalf of material produced specifically for Web sites by people who don't have jobs with news organizations. According to a study published last month by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, there are twelve million bloggers in the United States, and thirty-four per cent of them consider blogging to be a form of journalism. That would add