Camera phone footage a new factor in Lebanon fighting

During last year’s fighting between the Lebanese army and the Sunni Islamist group Fatah Al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr el-Bared in Northern Lebanon, which was notoriously off-limits to journalists, most of the existing images were from soldiers' camera phones, writes Mensassat.

"Afterwards, camera phone footage of Fatah al-Islam prisoners being mistreated by Lebanese soldiers also made their way to YouTube.

During last week's fighting in Beirut, many TV stations relied on camera phone footage provided by residents in neighborhoods too dangerous for camera crews to enter.

But if some of this camera phone footage qualifies as "citizen journalism," last week's Halba video is more akin to "mob journalism."

emily | 9:13 PM | Citizens as Camera Phone Reporters |
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