Saddam Hussein’s execution filmed on mobile camera phone

By on January 1, 2007 in News

Picture 4Mashable published a link to the grainy and shaky mobile camera phone video of Saddam Hussein’s execution.

The person doing the filming wasn’t very good at keeping the camera steady… it’s all over the place. Whatever your perspective on the execution, the footage is compelling, particularly as the mass media here in the UK appeared to only have still images of Saddam with the noose around his neck. So compelling that, as I’m writing this text, the above linked video has been viewed almost 900,000 times. Just that link. On Google Video. Not counting Youtube, Revver and the countless versions of the same video.

What’s fascinating, from a mobile industry viewpoint, is that the mobile medium — mobile footage — is now very much an accepted by all. Even Fox News was getting in on the action. As I was flicking across the news channels, I saw the Fox News anchorman talking about the footage. (I’m not sure if it was actually aired.)

I also wonder what Scoopt could/would have done with the footage, had they been approached with it exclusively by the owner.

I liked how Pete at Mashable put it:

We won’t pass judgement on those that want to see the clip, but what’s becoming abundantly clear is that information can no longer be suppressed – with cameraphones, video-sharing sites and thousands of independent bloggers, not to mention the social filters and rating systems that help us find the most interesting content, this media will always become available online.

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  • http://www.scoopt.com Kyle MacRae

    “I also wonder what Scoopt could/would have done with the footage, had they been approached with it exclusively by the owner.”

    Must admit, it crossed my mind too!

    The ‘could’ part is easy: we could have licensed this footage and stills taken from it commercially to any global media customer that wanted to use it (gotta love the Associated Press credit here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1980902,00.html).

    The ‘would’ is trickier. We always have to judge these issues on a case by case basis, balancing the right and requirement to tell the news against the risks of being used for political advantage, rewarding illegal actions, helping to fund a cause etc. In this particular case, before we made any decisions, we would have had to establish full details of the source. This would not necessarily have been wasy!

    Without knowing anything of the source, it’s impossible to be categorical and I simply don’t know whether we would have handled the video or walked away. But ultimately our role, as that of any other news organisation, is to tell the news — and you do that with whatever means you have to hand, subject to a billion provisos.

  • Alan

    Further coverage on the Saddam execution along with unedited video and the Letter from Saddam Hussein to the People of Iraq.

    http://www.crusade-media.com/news40.html

  • NyaZ

    Our conscience tells us the moral and immoral things. Do we think people can forgive an accused person? What could be the right and applicable verdict to a criminal? In a legal due process, the truth will prevail and the accused will pay for his illegal acts and crimes done. Bush held a press conference with a member of the Iraqi government, and there was a protest made. An Iraqi journalist decided that he was none too happy with Bush's performance, and set himself on making a statement of protest by throwing his shoes at the President. In America, we'd think a person was nuts for doing this, but in Muslim culture, throwing your shoes at a person is the greatest of insults. The name of the journalist is Muntadhar al-Zeidi, and as he hurled his foot wear he said “This is your farewell kiss, you dog!” The statue of Saddam that was toppled a few years ago had numerous shoes thrown at it, if this could give you an inkling of how serious they take the insult. Bush dodged both loafers, and laughed it off as a “sign of a free society,” like financial options like payday loans are. The man was promptly subdued and jailed. Many people across the Muslim world praised the man for his actions, as President Bush's image is not a very popular one in the Middle East. The shoes are currently being held as evidence, and the man awaits trial as he could receive up to two years for the offence. Click to read more on Payday Loans.

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