Citizen News Pier Screenings Recap: Alive in Baghdad Takes First Place

Thanks to the wonderful crowd that joined us last night at Pier 38 in San Francisco for the fourth and final installment in our summer Pier Screenings series.

We were first treated to a lively discussion about non-professional journalistic video with Sue Kwon of CBS, Josh Wolf, and Andrew Fitzgerald of Current TV. Kwon was fired up to tell us that broadcast journalism takes a lot of money, and that despite her access to sources and equipment and audiences, she still gets nickel-and-dimed for work expenses. Wolf and Fitzgerald agreed they’d like to see some sort of citizen (or perhaps a better term is “amateur”?) journalist’s guild emerge, in order to foster better access and more sustainable conditions for those who aren’t part of established outlets.

Then we showed the six community-chosen citizen news videos. Judges Kara Swisher, Michael Ferris Gibson, and JD Lasica were among the more friendly we’ve had this summer, though on the whole the finalists were a strong set, and deserved the praise.

Find more videos like this on NewTeeVee Pier Screenings

Alive in Baghdad’s “Sectarian Violence is a Daily Experience” was far and away the audience favorite, drawing 42 percent of the text-message vote. Coming in second was Internet Celebrities’ funny “Bodega” riff on nutrition in the Bronx, followed by GeoBeats’ upbeat piece on the Mumbai Dabbawalas lunch catering business. Celso Dulay’s piece on San Francisco Gay Pride also had a strong following.

The top three will receive hard drives from Fabrik and be featured on Metacafe’s homepage.

Photos by James Yu. Thanks to Metacafe, Friction.tv, Fabrik, Orrick, and vod:pod for sponsoring the event, and Eventbrite, Ning, and Mozes for donating their services. Please add links to your photos, videos, and write-ups in the comments.