The Ernest Chronicler

If you read my previous post, then you'll know that I have not had internet access for several days.  What I did have was CNN and FOX News on the TV.  And on Saturday something amazing happened:  all of the major news stations poured all of their air time into covering the struggle on Iran.  I really wish I could've live blogged it, but alas...

This is amazing for the following reason.  You are probably aware of the Iranian election recently held.  Ahmenosejob Ahmedinijad or whatever his name is was reelected by a two-to-one margin.  On Fox this morning, it said on some of the reports they'd seen that the turn out in some of the regions was more than 100%.  Lets say that there are some major questions about the legidamacy of the results. The students who supported the opposition leader Mousavi took to the streets.  They've been at it for a week, and during the week the regime put a blackout on all foreign reporting.  Nothing could be reported from inside Iran, so they thought they would put a damper on what foreign countries could see.  Now for some irony:  ex-president Mousavi and Ahmedinijad, although they have had some human rights issues, removed illiteracy from Iran.  The generation of thirty year olds and under (60% of the population) are educated people.  They know how to Facebook, how to Twitter, and how to blog.  The networks on Saturday and Sunday were able to spend more time on this subject than they normally spend on any one subject because this generation took videos and pictures of the protests and clashes and uploaded them to Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter.  And I think that the extensive reporting done on Iran in those two days were the media's way of sticking it to Iran.

I never thought that social networking sites would ever have this much influence on society.  On Twitter, Iranians were posting directions to embassies that would shelter those who were hurt in the protests.  This Iran incedent is cementing the way that the media and social networking sites have a symbiosis that will enhance the way news is retrieved and delivered.

I have to go now, but I'd like to blog some more on this later.