American Morning
What’s on Tap – Friday June 19, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- First the story we’re not even allowed to be telling: the unrest inside Iran. The crackdown on communication continues, as Iran’s Supreme Leader denies rigging his country's disputed election… saying the people decided. We’re monitoring social networking sites for stories the Iranian government doesn’t want you see, and have expert analysis from our Christiane Amanpour
- Hawaii on alert. A North Korean ship no the move. Tensions high. The U.S. is boosting anti-missile defenses around Hawaii this morning, after reports North Korea could launch its most powerful missile at the state. The Pentagon says it's also watching a North Korean ship sailing through the pacific, saying it's probably carrying illegal weapons or technology.
- 247 passengers flying from Brussels to Newark say they had no idea their pilot died – half way through the flight. A doctor on-board says the 60-year-old pilot couldn't be revived and died of natural causes. This morning we’re asking: would you wanna know? Let us know at 1-877-MYAMFIX
Social media's role in Iran protests
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/18/intv.thompson.nick.iran.art.jpg caption="Nick Thompson of Wired magazine discusses the use of social networking in the Iranian protests."]
Information today is a precious commodity as the Iranian regime cracks down, severely limiting our ability to report there. Protestors and media inside Iran have turned to Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging to get the word out about what's going on.
Nicholas Thompson, a senior editor at "Wired" magazine, spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Thursday about the social media phenomenon in Iran.
Kiran Chetry: First of all, are we overstating the role of social networking in organizing these rallies in Iran?
Nicholas Thompson: I think we're overstating the role of Twitter. I don’t think we’re necessarily overstating the role of cell phones, Facebook, or social networking in general.
Chetry: So what is Twitter being used for in Iran?
Thompson: Twitter is being used for some internal communications. What it's really being used for is getting the word out to the outside world. The great thing about Twitter is you can have as many followers as you want and anybody can read anything. It's a completely open network.
So it's great if you want to get news to your friends in America, people in the media in America who are watching and playing an important role in this drama. But if you actually want to organize a protest and if you actually want to get people to together at 6 o’clock, Twitter is kind of sort of useful, but it's not being used by everybody in Iran the way that it's sometimes portrayed as here in the United States.
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