Assess the potential for future harm First, you must assess whether an image or video could cause harm to those involved. Are they in a dangerous part of the world? Do they risk reprisals for sharing this information, or for being shown? Can you safely assume that the people shown in the image/video consented to being filmed? If there is a real risk of harm, you have two options: 1. Don’t use the image/footage. Just because it exists does not mean it needs to be shared/broadcast/published. We can report on it in other ways, and use it to inform our work. 2. Blur the identities. Television newsrooms often blur faces of vulnerable individuals when they broadcast their image. Photographs can easily be edited to blur faces. For online videos, you can re-upload the video to YouTube and use its face blurring function. Explained here4, the tool was created to protect the identity of vulnerable subjects in videos, and can be found as an “Additional Feature” when you click on the Video Enhancements tool to edit a video. One credo encompassed in the standard codes of ethics for journalists, crisis responders and human rights workers is to minimize harm. Taking the time to assess and minimize harm to individuals when using citizen media is one way to put that credo into practice in 21st century reporting. 105