On Tuesday September 18th Keith Lamont Scott was shot four times and died at the hands of Charlotte, NC police. Reports have maintained that Scott was unarmed and was waiting in his car to pick up his son from the bus stop. The events that lead to the death of Scott are unclear and many are also unconfirmed. However, footage from Lyric Scott’s cell phone captured an hour for the events following the shooting of her father.
Citizen documentation of rallies, vigils and protests surrounding #BlackLivesMatter and racialized police brutality are not new to social media. This instance, however, called on a new method of sharing- using new Facebook Live feature. Facebook Live allows users to broadcast from their phone while a real-time stream is shared to their facebook page. This gives way for people to tune in live, make comments and interact with the recorder and other viewers. Once the stream ends, the video is posted to that timeline and can be played back while still seeing how many viewers had tunes in at any given point, and what comments were made throughout. Lyric Scott’s choice to use this feature was an interesting one, and certainly an effective one. While the footage is disorganized and the language is vulgar, it allows viewers to step into the scene and see what most news coverage neglects. Details such as the way in which she found out that the shots to her father were fatal, the reactions of those who arrives on the scene after her, and the way the police reacted to her.
The hour long emotionally-charged documentation got attention for the method of exposition that Lyric chose. Which begs the question, what has this live feature done to set itself apart from other citizen documentation? Is it simply the idea that documenting the scene was so important to someone who’s father is dying? Is it those bits and pieces that we don’t see from other news outlets/citizen documentation? Is it that people were able to feel the gravity of the situation by tuning in live? Or is it the shared experience of knowing that thousands of others are witnessing the same injustice as you in that very moment though none were actually present?
Whatever the reason may be it is clear that Lyric’s choice to broadcast her experience with her father’s murder was both shocking and attractive to those on the internet- soliciting over 62 000 views until her Facebook page was disabled- the video now exists strictly as a play back on youtube and other video hosts. This leads to a whole other discussion regarding censorship- but we will save that for another day. With the Scott family’s story being broadcast live on social media- one can’t help but wonder if this will become a more common trend in citizen journalism. Time will tell.
My sincerest condolences go out to the Scott family. The injustices that surround us are sickening and no life should be lost over carelessness, assumptions, prejudice, and especially hate. We can only hope that shedding light on these injustices will lead to positive change and safer communities for everyone- especially those who are black. #BlackLivesMatter. Below I have copied a link with details on the death of Keith Lamont Scott which also includes Lyric’s video- please note that the video includes explicit language.
http://mashable.com/2016/09/21/facebook-live-video-keith-scott-charlotte-police-shooting/#gDcGv23giOqp
Feel free to weigh in on any part of the story here- how do you think Lyric’s decision to use Facebook Live changed the way her citizen journalism was received?