When I discuss being a videograpber with friends, and how social media has changed it, I get angry responses from time to time. To my friends, the camera is just an object. It can only tell the truth and videographers need to stay out of problems. What they don’t realize is that the camera is the new weapon, and one that protest organizers understand very well.
Protesters are lining the streets for their cause. The police respond to this new threat. The NEWS reports it and we all end up wondering what really happened. While walking home one day I began to ask questions about the administration of these protests. Not the view, but how they were being taken care of.
This essay is not to discuss the ideas, politics, or even statements by the Occupy Wall Street movement, antiglobalization movement, global warming demonstrators, or any view that is now modernly found. It is more on the idea of how these movements work. What are the basic things keeping them going. How are they recruiting others to join? What is keeping them at the protest area? How are their basic needs such as bathrooms and food taken care of? Then finally, how have public servants dealt with taking care of the area and people of the movement? In other words, what keeps the protests running?
We need to discuss some things first before answering the questions. The first is the multiple narrative theory. The second is how media is now used with facebook and cameras. The third is that my personal opinions on the subject are not really involved with the answers given.
Nationalism is the idea of using a movement as a form of semi religion. The leaders place sacred ideals or objects to be wanted for. They make it seem that not everyone can get in, and that this group is very important. They promote their stories and ideas as if it were doctrine.
As video technology and the internet have improved and become cheaper more and more people can promote their own narrative. This means that the ideas of a nationalism that can only accept one idea now has more competition. There will be many nationalisms and narratives being told, and thus groups forming up behind the ideas.
The camera and internet are used to promote these ideas in direct form. It is not pushed onto the NEWS but onto Facebook. The videos may look sloppy, but they are well edited and many of the camera crew had privileges allowed to them.
When these new forms of nationalism begin to do battle, the camera becomes one of the most powerful weapons used. A youtube video can go viral and make others believe it completely. This is the reason why so many youtube videos will be used in this article. Luckily the author happens to be a good editor and cameraman and can show how the angles and edits were used to create the narrative.
Remember, just because this is being shown does not mean that the author agrees with the group. He is pointing out what is happening, not his own personal opinions. Trying to find out the truth in such a debate is pointless since that is not what is being used. One must always realize that the videos were made with a specific narrative in mind, and that pointing out what it is and how it is being done does not mean an agreement. For every video that is cited within this paper, there are 20 or more just like it on the internet promoting the ideas of the various groups.
Recruitment for a protest is done with several narratives. Many people go to a protest for the feeling of camaraderie within a cause. Others go to enjoy the party feeling. Others feel that they are fighting against an evil thing within the society itself.
The first thought is for those that feel they are part of a movement. A video or message that rings well with a person is enough to bring some protestors. They feel they are part of a movement and can feel proud of this. The meaning of the protest can be forgotten so long as it is similar enough.
The next feeling is usually seen with funny protest signs. These people tend to go to protests more as a way to hang out. They don’t so much agree as see it as a chance to hang out. When speaking with friends at highschool, this seemed to be the common reason for going. It was curiosity and a chance to party.
The final thought tends to get the most publicity. They are the ones who believe that they are going against an evil empire and that everything they do is allowed. This group has two sub groups and they must be known.
The first subthought are those that feel they are going against the evil empire and thus show the evil empire itself. These are by far the best recruiters for the movement. They will post videos of police violence and anything they consider shady.
In the minds of these protestors, every single person on the other side is dehumanized and placed within something with an authoritorial image. The stormtroopers from Star Wars or any other faceless but dangerous group is the image placed.
The second subthought is that of protesting can be done any way wanted. These thoughts are that the evil organization, government, or business needs to be taken down by any means necessary. The stormtrooper still appears in the mind, but has an active attempt to thwart. The strength of these thoughts can lead to problems.
Within most videos posted, the feelings and thoughts show these ideas. A recruitment video would be something such as “Riot Police attack peaceful protesters at G20 Climate Camp[1]” we see the protestors standing and chanting with each other. We see police respond as if they are stormtroops to a peaceful movement of like minded people. What the police are thinking about is not important here. It is how the video portrays the police in this situation and others like it. The protesters are seen as brave and going against the evil organization that put the police there.
This video is then placed on facebook and blogs and seen as what actually happened. This video and many like it work to create a support group and thus more recruits are found.
Now that the recruits are found and at the protest, what keeps them at the area? This may sound strange, but simply sitting and doing nothing will get boring in a few hours.
The answer is themes and planned events. In the website for one of the groups that organized the G20/G8 protests in Toronto in 2010, the main page has a section on planned events[2]. Such things as a “Tea Party” where they burn money, or a climate protest with workshops and plays[3].
In a video for the TV show Conan, we see similar ideas at the Occupy Wall Street Movement in 2011[4].
There are spontaneous things such as drum groups.
And obviously planned events such as paper airplanes being made up of letters to Wall Street being thrown at the Dow Jones building.
When you look at it from this view, many of the events that seem to just happen by anger and resentment begin to look well planned out. This centers the most on Black Bloc protests[5]. The societal view of them is that of rioters and miscreants without cause.
The pictures[6] shows that people dressed up for the event and even prepared signs and weapons for the protest. To do this would have taken planning and scheduling. The riot was scheduled and controlled.
Giving events and scheduled themes for the protest allows the people who have gathered to do something and feel that they are a part of something big. When this happens, the protesters begin to treat the event as they view it. Some deal with it as a party, others see it as a chance to rail against the system. They dress up and come prepared for the day with their views feeling validated.
Within this context the even begins to be seen in similar veins as other groups that gather and dress up. Conventions such as Comicon have similar things of people who are there to party, want to be part of a movement, and even deal with ideas of repression. The convention has scheduled events and people enjoy dressing up when going[7].
Now that the people are coming and staying, how does one feed and take care of so many protesters?
The website for the G20 protest movement has Medical Resources listed as part of their volunteer force[8]. This shows that there are people ready and willing to take care of any injuries at protests.
Finding food supplies and bathroom information was tricky. Within the Conan video a food tent is found.
There are also signs that people are sleeping there and not taking showers or baths.
So it should be expected that somehow many protesters are staying in the area. However, this is only a part of the group and not a whole. There are several layers of protester going to the area. The first is the unwashed camping out protester who never leaves. Very likely they are being taken care of by other volunteers who go and buy food for them.
The next group comes and goes as needed. They appear well fed and well groomed.
As can be seen, they are showering and shaving and leaving to take care of themselves. Whether they have money to buy food from a vendor or go home to eat is unknown. It is obvious though that they stay and leave for their own needs to be met.
The next group visits and leaves based on the party given and do not visit often. Perhaps they only go for one day, but still feel as if they are a part of the group in whole.
Lastly, there are online supporters who post pictures or videos of what they have seen. The 99% tumblr page shows protesters who feel strongly about what is going on[9]. They may not be able to go to the protest or simply do not have the personal desire to do so, but they show public support of this protest.
Finally there are the people who publicly support, but do not post pictures of themselves. They post links on facebook, or change their own picture to a protest sign already made and shared to them. For instance the below picture was a common thing to find as a avatar picture in facebook during the SOPA protests.
The protest still has people in it, but it appears that financially speaking they are being supported as they protest. The group for the G20 protest has many special funds and supports to help keep themselves and other protests afloat.
The major things to worry about is the amount of litter being left by the protest groups, and any damage done. This of course means the need for public administration and police needs. This brings up the final question about the difficulties of the Public Administration and what to do?
The protest organizers use the police as a ways of recruitment. In the G20 protest website there are instructions on how to deal with the police[10] and requests for videos and pictures of police brutality[11]. Youtube videos show that the violence done by rioters was actually police[12].
Police have admitted that they are sending in undercover officers into protests to find the violent and problematic protesters[13]. Which has lead to outright confrontations and accusations of black bloc members as police instigators[14].
If we relook at the video of the Climategate camp vs the Police we can see something else happening.
The police are surrounded by protesters and begin to fight back with more aggression. The only way to deal with such a vast group of protesters who view you as stormtroopers is to dehumanize them back. Large crowds of people become angry zombies in seconds, and as the protesters attempt to overpower the police, that reality and sense of survival kicks in.
It becomes difficult for police to respond correctly when anything they do is viewed as part of some evil organization. They use cameras to find out who is who within the rally and attempt to document everything as best as possible.
Attempts to legitimize the protest comes up against the feelings that it would mean the protesters have become part of the problem[15]. So the best answer then becomes to legitimize the protests. It would scare away the problem protesters and make it easier for things to be taken care of.
The next part would be to get cameras into the hands of those not involved. The Pinto Pony videos showed far more than any NEWS channel or Protester video. In fact, in the video of the black bloc riot many rioters were demanding that the cameras be turned off. When asked why, a protester responded.
“It’s all just part of the spectacle.”
In closing, the movement of protesters in our modern time has been followed more on the reasons to protest than how the protest happens. If we study why people go, we see that most protesters are more interested in a party and the movement than any threat. The organizers of the movements are organized and have scheduled events and parties to keep people coming. The use of cameras and videos are for recruitment and to portray the movement itself as peaceful and the police as a horrible enemy. The police are caught in a rock and a hard place and are working to document the problems back.
We realize that the camera becomes the weapon. When edited the video shows the narrative of what the videographer wants. When people try to deal with a problem by aiming a gun at a camera, they only find out that they created more problems. The world of media and social networking defeats the older methods and creates new ones.
[6] Pinto Pony Productions, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-h-YIj4jRw&feature=BFa&list=UUp0VcHDRMfof2wCod5vF6rQ&lf=plcp
[13] CBC NEWS, “Quebec Police admit they went undercover in Montebello protest”, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/08/23/police-montebello.html
