London Attack

People on their way home after the London bomb attacks on 7th July 2005. Tube and bus transport was stopped in London that day after four bombs exploded killing over 50 and injuring 700 people. This stretch of road is usually very busy with buses and cars. Notice how its pretty much devoid of transport.

The shot is taken by cameraphone and is looking south from the north end of London Bridge. Originally uploaded by bozoduck.

“Within minutes of the first blast we had received images from the public,” says Boaden. “We had 50 images within an hour. Now there are thousands. We had a gallery of still photographs from the public online, and they were incredibly powerful.”

The BBC’s Ten O’Clock News used two mobile phone sequences shot by members of the public, and the main picture used on its online news service on Thursday was taken by a passer-by. “People are very media-savvy. We saw the use of what we call ‘user-generated material’ in the tsunami and at the floods in Boscastle. But as people get used to creating pictures and videos on their phones in normal life, they increasingly think of sending them to us when major incidents occur.”

Ben Rayner, the editor of the ITV News channel, says ITN was sent more than a dozen video clips from mobile phones on Thursday, and the clips – some so graphic as to render them unusable – played an important role in getting across to viewers the nature of the story. “It’s the way forward for instant newsgathering, especially when it involves an attack on the public,” he believes.

Mobile phone video clips and stills were posted on to internet sites alongside first-hand accounts of people’s experiences, building up a vast catalogue of DIY coverage more comprehensive and wide-ranging than anything available through the mainstream media.

Guardian: ‘We had 50 images within an hour’

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