The rise of the selfie journalist
Selfie journalist and social media influencer Yusuf Omar inspired the audience at the Mobile spotting in the media-conference in Bergen.
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鈥淲hat is selfie journalism, or mobile journalism,鈥� asked , the mobile editor of the Hindustan Times, who visited the conference arranged by the VISmedia group at the University of Bergen (UiB) and NCE Media, a Norwegian Centre of Expertise, before replying:
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 our closest version of the news. Selfie journalism is a democratisation of the world. I even like to call myself a jeans journalist, because everything I need should fit into the pocket of my jeans.鈥�
He was invited to attend the conference by Professor Astrid Gynnild from UiB鈥檚 Department of Information Science and Media 大象传媒.
Mobile describes the world
He put the change in the way we see the world to the terrorism acts of 9/11 and the arrival of smart phones, when we 鈥渟tarted documenting our lives鈥�. According to Omar, mobile phones now describe the world, pointing to examples and showing video clips 鈥� both his own and others 鈥� from war zones in Africa and Syria.
Some critics have argued that selfie journalism isn鈥檛 news, and that journalism is about finding things out.
鈥淭his may not be journalism in a conventional way, but this doesn鈥檛 mean that it鈥檚 not relevant,鈥� he argued in his defence of mobile journalism, which has become the modern and accessible way to do what would once have been called citizen journalism.
Mobile journalism is revolutionising the way we see the world. A movement of citizen journalists.
鈥淚 understand that there are around three million Facebook users in Norway. If we could curate just one per cent of those users, there would be 30,000 new journalists,鈥� he said pointing out that this type of bottom-up journalism could bring attention to stories of sexual abuse or migration.
Stories of sexual abuse
In his native India, Omar has been the force behind major journalistic scoops, both through the 鈥淯gly Indian鈥� awareness campaign and his ground-breaking Snapchat-reports of sexual abuse, that have been copied by media outlets as far afield as Germany.
鈥淢any think of Snapchat as just being childish and frivolous pictures鈥�, he said whilst showing images of himself on the conference screen, with the silly pictures that Snapchat is known for.
鈥淏ut used in a different way, it鈥檚 about empowering people to tell stories,鈥� he said and talked about how on his travels in India he was talking to girls, 鈥渨ho have been sexually abused. and disowned by their parents.鈥�
Controlling the聽narrative
Marginalised by society, these girls have found it hard to channel their despair and their stories. Until Snapchat.
鈥淢ainstream media would blur out faces or only show the victim鈥檚 hands. But this would only be a sound bite. No real detail, no real story.聽 Snapchat does justice to these young girls鈥� stories,鈥� said Omar.
When getting the girls to tell their stories, they would use Omar鈥檚 phone as a mirror.
鈥淭hey could choose their own representation. They got to see their own faces being hidden. They were empowered to choose their own narrative. Yet we can still see eyes, ears, mouth. This gives us a sense of purpose,鈥� he said about how the images created a connection between the girls and their Snapchat audience.
Using the same method, Indian women trafficked as sex labour to Abu Dhabi have told their story.
鈥淭his is about empowering people to tell their own stories,鈥� he argued, 鈥渋t is about looking beyond the gimmicks of social media, the ephemeral messages and tell the stories.鈥�