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Citizen journalism: How your video goes viral and almost lands you in court

Auteur: Ellen van Dalen

How an ordinary guy from Scharendijke became world famous in 24 hours. And almost ended up in court. A story about how we make media, and the question: are we actually aware of the consequences of our role as citizen journalists?

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Safari

Take a safari through nature and come face to face with wild animals reads the invitation on the Beekse Bergen website. Those who accept and head to Hilvarenbeek find a man-made safari park, complete with wild animals. You can even stay overnight in the park and enjoy a real savannah experience in Noord Brabant!

Commercial Safari Resort Beekse Bergen. Source: Youtube.

Danger

The animals may look cute and cuddly in the adverts, in reality they’re anything but. That is why visitors are forbidden from getting out of their car during the safari.

Commercial Safari Resort Beekse Bergen. Source: Youtube
Robin de Graaf was therefore amazed to see people doing just that during his visit.
To look at cheetahs, no less, a predator that can run up to 100 km an hour.
Robin sees it happening, grabs his smartphone and makes this video
Frans gezin in safaripark Beekse Bergen heeft echt veel geluk. Camera: Robin de Graaf. Source: Youtube
Then he sees the family getting out of their car again...
An astonished Robin keeps filming, also when the family has to run for their lives.
Frans gezin in safaripark Beekse Bergen heeft echt veel geluk. Camera: Robin de Graaf. Source: Youtube

6.000.201
Views

Thankfully it ends well. Once he recovers from the shock, Robin shares his eyewitness account on social media. The video soon goes viral.

Two days later the video is also picked up by traditional media.
A NEWS ITEM IS BORN
Het Journaal (NOS), Pauw (BNNVARA), Nieuwsuur (NTR) en CNN bespreken het incident op 11-05-2018. Sources: Youtube & Collectie Beeld & Geluid.

The phone hasn’t stopped ringing, I keep getting Facebook messages and my mailbox is full. Does anyone have a large stone I can crawl under?

Robin's mother

The press is pushing to speak with the person who made the video. Robin is suddenly famous.

Source: https://www.omroepzeeland.nl/nieuws/105667/Iedereen-wil-alles-weten-van-Robin-de-filmer-van-het-incident-in-Beekse-Bergen
Has Robin become a citizen journalist now?
Robin interviewed on Omroep Zeeland, 11-05-2018. Source: Omroep Zeeland.

Citizen journalism

Citizen journalism is a term that is used for news that is collected, written and published outside established media channels, by people who are not professional journalists. These days, everyone can make videos and share them online, like Robin did. He presented the news, the traditional journalists the interpretation. Robin was thus a citizen journalist for a day.  

Robin’s approach has received growing criticism on social media

Tjeerd Posthuma reacts on Twitter, 11-05-2018. Source: Twitter
And so Robin appears in front of the camera again...
Robin interviewed on HvNL, 11-05-2018, SBS. Source: Hart van Nederland

Criticism from a legal perspective

If the tourists who got out of their car at Beekse Bergen had been attacked by the cheetahs, the person filming could have faced a fine and prison.

Nico van Eijk, Professor of Information Law

Professor of Information Law Nico van Eijk interviewed on Hart van Nederland, SBS, 15-05-2018. Source: Hart van Nederland.

Innocent

Nonsense says lawyer Jens van den Brink. He thinks Robin is blameless. The lawyer can imagine that the boys didn't know what to do. Plus the fact that they simply couldn’t do very much without putting themselves in danger.

Jens van den Brink on Dit is de dag, 15-05-2018. Source: NPO Radio 1.

Wat do you think?

No comment?

The courts refuse to give an opinion on Robin's approach, but say they are happy so many people have watched the images. “Now everyone has been able to see what happens if you decide to have a picnic among the cheetahs. The video will prevent this from happening again, which we believe is very important."

Frans gezin in safaripark Beekse Bergen heeft echt veel geluk. Camera: Robin de Graaf. Source: Youtube

Less than a month later no one is talking about the French family at Beekse Bergen anymore.  The media circus moves on. Peace descends on Scharendijke again. And Robin? He will now think twice before sharing a video online.

Did you know that the video made it to the top 3 most-viewed Dutch YouTube videos of 2018?

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