The cellphone camera is a fly on the wall!

Nahid Bashateh “WHOEVER exercises his right does not harm anyone.” This is global wisdom. Two girls drowned in a pool of water caused by heavy rains that lashed the villages of Salilat Juhaina and Al-Marbah in Madinah. These two girls were not the only ones who lost their lives because of the heavy rains. There were other people who were killed because of the negligence of the relevant authorities and their failure to prevent dangers caused by flooding. There was no media hype in the aftermath of the deaths, not even when a Sudanese man pulled the bodies of the two girls out of the water. The real media hype took place when the governor of Al-Ais and Civil Defense officials visited the home of the girls and   started offering their condolences to the bereaved family members. The governor told the family that he had come to them to share their grief, but one of relatives did not like that. He said that he blamed the governor for the accident and added that no official had visited them to offer condolences. He told the governor that nobody was there to share their grief with them after the accident. Meanwhile, a man recorded this conversation on camera and posted the video on social media. I would like to commend this person for performing the role of an honest reporter. He recorded everything as it happened and posted it on the Internet. If a reporter had recorded the event, he would probably not have posted it because he would have to follow the instructions of his newspaper. Many citizens today take on the role of real reporters and they are doing a great job and showing us the real role of the media in making the voice of the weak and disaster-afflicted people heard. It seems that real reporters are no longer able to convey the facts as they are, either because they are not qualified or because their media companies put restraints on them and do not give them enough leeway. The cell phone camera has become the fly on the wall, so to speak. Senior officials should hold the concerned authorities in charge of preventing floods responsible for the death of both girls. We all feel sad for them.