“You can’t keep any of this news down anymore…The process of getting the word out is totally democratized.”
— Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent and a native of Iran, in Thursday’s New York Times. As foreign journalists in Iran are forced to leave the country — Amanpour returned to London after her Iranian visa expired Tuesday — the world is looking to citizen reporters to capture the unrest in the wake of last week’s controversial presidential election. Videos of the violent crackdowns posted on Google’s YouTube have been viewed by thousands, while oppostion candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi is using his Facebook page to organize protests. As we mentioned in Wednesday’s power point, Twitter is also playing a crucial role in giving protesters a voice, despite the Iranian government’s efforts to silence them. –Jessica Shambora