Reporter Paul Lewis harnesses the power of mobile phones and social media -- innovations that are making every person a potential journalist.
Why you should listen
Paul Lewis uses social media and cellphone video and photos to build hard-hitting stories. He first gained notice for his reporting on the death of Ian Tomlinson, when he used a witness’ cellphone video to prove that the police attacked Tomlinson at the 2009 G-20 protests. The international story led to an internal police investigation and changed the way we think about self-policing in a digital era.
He leads a team of journalists at The Guardian who specialize in using the very reporting methods he helped popularize. He reflects on citizen journalism as part of the book Investigative Journalism: Dead or Alive?
What others say
All in all, his story was a triumph for the assertion of civil liberty, as well as a revelation about policing conduct.
Paul Lewis’ TED Talk
More news and ideas from Paul Lewis
Ideas
The Guardian’s Paul Lewis talks citizen journalism
August 14, 2013
With more and more regular Joes snapping photos in the street, live tweeting breaking news from the ground, and acting as free sources of political, economic and cultural analysis, not everyone is confident about the future of professional journalism. But according to TED speaker Paul Lewis, who shared two dramatic examples of citizen journalism at […]
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How journalist Paul Lewis helped solve two murders using social media
August 14, 2013
Acclaimed for harnessing the crowd in the name of news reporting, Guardian journalist Paul Lewis gives his take on the state of journalism.
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Death of deportee Jimmy Mubenga declared unlawful, thanks to TED speaker Paul Lewis
July 10, 2013
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9APO9_yNbcg&w=560&h=315] The death of Jimmy Mubenga, a political refugee who died as he was about to be deported from the UK to Angola, has been declared unlawful, thanks in large part to an investigation by TED speaker Paul Lewis and his colleague Matthew Taylor. When Mubenga died aboard British Airways Flight 77 on October 12, […]
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