The Iranian government placed tough restrictions on foreign journalists on Wednesday, leaving television networks and other media relying mostly on the Iranian people for news.
Bay Area journalism experts say this is a historic moment for online media.
The Iranian government's strategy to eliminate the dissemination of news is not going to be as simple as it used to be, said Al Tompkins, online and broadcast leader at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg.
"That used to be the way that governments would control information -- just kick the journalists out, make them stay in their hotel rooms. And guess what? It doesn't work anymore, because now, anybody with a cell phone, anybody with a computer terminal, anybody with an internet connection, can report to the world," he said.
It's a new day for social networking sites and these sites have helped with the recent news coverage of the massive protests, he said.
."Until very recently, sites like Twitter, Facebook and these silly sounding sites, have always been treated as optional, silly sites. Now they're serious enough that the State Department even contacted Twitter and asked, 'please don't shut down for maintenance,'" he said.
Tompkins said Iranians know how to hide the origin of their Internet connections. He said they use Proxy Servers to hide the Internet address. "So it's very difficult -- almost impossible -- for someone to figure out, where you're coming from to shut you down," he said.
For now, Tompkins said, despite restrictions, we can expect the Iranian people to continue sharing these powerful images with the rest of the world.
"The most powerful tool in all of mankind is information, it's more powerful than any gun, its more powerful than any cannon its more powerful than any bomb, it's the free flow of information."
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