Film-quality footage used to be a prerequisite for broadcast, whereas now amateur video and stills have become perfectly acceptable to air and publish. Amateur footage offers immediacy and intimacy that traditional film does not. Due to access to so many media outlets, and near-saturation levels of media exposure, audiences now hunger for new angles and unseen footage of big media events, like the World Trade Centre bombings in 2001 and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. In these cases it is often likely that the first images captured are from mobile phones and digital cameras, and even though they may be shaky and out of focus, they possess incredible news value to audiences who want to be shocked.
