YouTube as crap media-buster

Newspapers that write feel-good pap, TV stations that don’t touch domestic stories, radio stations that read the news off the BBC. It would be easy to live a year in the Middle East and barely know what was happening on your doorstep.
Much is made of the lack of press freedom in the region, but maybe it is more to do with the lack of journalistic creativity. Perhaps it’s best to leave news reporting to the amateurs?
Wajiha Huwaidar, a Saudi activist, marked this year's International Women's Day by defying a ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom and posted a video of her act on YouTube. The video doesn’t show much, just Wajiha pootling around some quiet country roads and talking to camera. It doesn’t need Hollywood production values to get the story across.
Hats off to Wajiha and let’s hope it encourages more amateur story tellers. They could do better than the pros – compare ABC News’ tiresome ‘Dubai’s Dirty Little Secret’ with Paxploitation’s Do Buy! three parter). Or Kipp’s vote for the most original piece of film to come out of Dubai, Go Around Twice if You’re Happy.