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White House launches the Police Data Initiative
Following the police-shooting death of Michael Brown and subsequent riots in Ferguson, MO, the Obama administration assembled a task force charged with somehow easing the adversarial relationship between law enforcement and the citizenry. The White House released those findings this morning and also announced that it is launching the Police Data Initiative, a 21-city pilot program designed to fast track solutions to the task force's suggestions.
Facebook and Twitter say 2014 was about protests and the World Cup
The past year was a blur if you're a social networking maven, but don't worry -- both Facebook and Twitter are offering retrospectives that will help you remember how 2014 went down. Despite the differences between the two services, people on either were buzzing about many of the same things. Protests defined the year for many, whether it was about police violence in the US or the fight for democracy in Hong Kong. Sports played a big role, too, with the World Cup and the winter Olympics often dominating the conversation.
Citizen journalism game will show how your photos change the story
As the Ferguson protests made exceedingly clear, citizen journalism is both a blessing and a curse; while it can expose police brutality and censorship, it's also prone to misinformation. But how do you illustrate the complexity of the subject for the general public? If you're developer Nicky Case, who has a history of tackling difficult subjects, you build a game around it. His as yet unnamed title will have your character trying to gain Twitter followers (that is, score points) by taking photos at controversial events like protests. The trick will be to accurately capture what's happening without polarizing any group more than necessary. You may want to photograph police corruption, but the cops could block you from certain areas if you antagonize them too quickly; at the same time, you don't want to take extreme shots that turn peaceful protests into riots.
Before #Ferguson, Michael Brown's death was already a topic on Twitter
Before the protests and the armed vehicles. Before tear gas sent an Al Jazeera news crew scrambling for safety. Before people from Palestine were tweeting tips on how to endure pepper spray to marchaers in St. Louis. Before Ferguson, MO became a no-fly zone and before we became all too familiar with the burned out shell of a middle America QuikTrip, the death of Michael Brown was already on Twitter. After the unarmed teenager was shot and killed by a police officer Saturday, protesters took to the streets in following days, met initially by a heavily armed police response. Tweets and Vines from St. Louis Alderman Antonio French or journalists like Wesley Lowery and Ryan J. Reilly (all of whom were arrested and released during the protests) gave a clear picture of events on the ground as the days progressed, and livestreams like those from KARG Argus Radio showed what the TV couldn't or wouldn't. Misinformation has also been a problem, with hoaxes and a leaked name for the officer involved (which turned out to be false) circulating. Now, Rolling Stone writer Tim Dickinson points out (warning: graphic language and images) the tweets of St. Louis rapper/producer "TheePharoah" that captured the actual shooting and the events that followed live as they happened.
