I came across a few videos from MTV News and Gideon Yago tonight. All of the ones I found were from 2006 and reminded me of the old school news breaks MTV News used to run. Except they weren’t 10 to the Hour — they were in depth and serious. And it seems like Yago got some traction within MTV News with a project called Iraq Uploaded.

The angle of how technology, pop culture and soldier stories merge — is a way I haven’t seen the war covered. With the video I considered how unprecedented and unknown territory it is for soldiers to bring digital cameras for their Iraq tours. Apparently some guys even strapped handheld digitals to their helmets.  Don’t be surprised to see graphic stuff. This wasn’t made for Nightly News.

I heard a few months ago from the Department of Defense that the military evaluates videos recorded and uploaded in real time as a possible threat to OpSec, or, Operational Security. Same goes for blogs. This Lieutenant just had to take down his blog, while others, some active duty and some Veterans, continue to share their stories. It’s an all together an unprecedented issue for the Military. 

MTV News: Iraq Uploaded - Iraq Uploaded

For more videos like this, check out SpikeTV, Military.com and YouTube.

To friends and family when my video launched.

“This doesn’t just close out a month when I (determinedly) worked through each weekend, it signifies a milestone in my Street Team tenure. I am half way through this journey. My production skills have greatly improved, but more than that, I think I found what a friend and mentor advised I do back in January.

“Erica, Humanize this War.”

With that advice, I thought – and continue to think, about the way to do it. For this video, and over time, I talked to dozens of Veterans. Read every article I could. And through conversation, absorbed anecdotes — about a confusing and unorganized war – from intelligence officers, artillery soldiers, explosive specialists and more.

Here is my video, Mission Possible.”