Standard Operating Procedures

Errol Morris is an Oscar winning film maker. His latest film titled SOP: Standard Operating Procedures premiers in New York and Los Angles. The documentary takes on Abu Ghraib, and is already recieving a good deal of acclaim. But in the age of the internet the project doesn't stop there. Morris is planning on publishing thousands of photos for the incidents, unredacted on the internet in what will amount essentially as a huge body of evidence for the atrocities committed there. It is a new form of art and citizen journalism. The project and it's purpose is described in great detail in this story on Politico.

Now, unlike any time in the history of journalism, or the history of well history, are we seeing an incident of such infamy, not only getting reported by those who were involved, using their digitial cameras and camera phones, but we are seeing it live on in perpetuity through the use of the internet. It is an amazing combination of skilled, trained artists such as Morris using the materials and skills of citizens to create a complete record of an incident. It's also the future of the film industry, especially documentaries which more and more often are linked to online material.