40 Years ago, Kim Phuc found heroes

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

It is an image that every photojournalist wishes that they had taken.

But what I find the most incredible about that moment in time captured 40 years ago is what happened after the picture.

When bullets fly

Rick Madonik - Staff Photographer - @RMadonik

I'm resistant to change, especially technological change. Even when The Star switched to digital cameras, I was reluctant to take that step. (For work purposes, I can't imagine going back to film. That's not to say I don't miss film, I do.)

Last year, when I was headed to Libya to cover the ongoing conflict, I was asked to "Tweet" and declined to do so. Even with recognizing the role of social media, and its affect on the Arab Spring, I didn't want to be committed to Twitter. First, I was not a fan of letting the world know exactly where I was at any given moment since who knows who would be "following" my tweets. Secondly, there was the question about whether or not my phone reception would be working at all. (Often, in such circumstances, celluar phone activity is severely disrupted). 

Last night (Saturday, June 2, 2012) the newsroom was alerted to the shooting at the Eaton Centre by a Tweet from Toronto Blue Jays 3rd baseman Brett Lawrie (@blawrie13) who was inside the mall and heard the gunshots. When picture editor Canice Leung (@canice) dispatched me to the scene, she told me it was based on a tweet by the baseball player. I'll admit I rolled my eyes at the source, and gathered my gear and headed to the car.

Turns out Lawrie's information was right.

I would soon send out two tweets myself. "Shooting inside Eaton Centre. Two transported to hospital," and "One victim 13 yr old male. 2nd victim adult male." I tweeted this AFTER photographing the two victims as they were taken to ambulances. I chose to "report" one of the victims as 13 years old, when I overheard EMS personnel discussing which hosptial to transport the victim. (St. Mike's Heath Centre is the "trauma" centre and Hosptial for Sick Children, obviously, is for kids.)

The next time I checked my phone, perhaps 15 minutes later, the number of people "following" me had nearly quadrupled. Previously, I had a following of 40 people, and now its 145. Certaintly I don't have numbers like Lawrie - he has 125,000 followers - but I was surprised by the bump in numbers.

I can't say my opinion of "citizen journalism" has changed much, but there is some merit to it. Time will tell if such methods of reporting go the distance. After all, anyone could post something and it could "trend" worldwide before the information is verified, or proven wrong, or the facts lay somewhere between.

 

An adult male, with what appears to be more than one gunshot wound to his upper left chest, is moved to an ambulance for transport to hospital.

Our favourites from May

 

TARA WALTON - Ottawa's Helene Campbell poses for photos in her Toronto apartment Monday May 28, 2012 where she is recovering from a double lung transplant.  In April Campbell underwent a double lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital.  During her time on the waiting list Helene became Canada's greatest advocate for organ donation, sparking hundreds to sign up through the power of twitter.