Digital revolution: Rise of the citizen journo

YOUTUBE frames of “Neda”, a young Iranian woman whose face is covered in blood, are a horrific image of what some are calling the Tehran spring. They also show the genie unleashed by citizen journalists.

Identified on the website flickr as Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman shown on camera-phone footage falling, apparently shot, on the edges of a protest at Iran’s disputed elections has drawn a passionate response worldwide. Dubbed a “murdered angel” on the popular Sina.com Chinese website, her name in Persian yields 15,300 results on Persian language sites, according to Google.

Neda Agha Soltan studied at the philosophy department of Tehran University and over the past few days has become an icon of the opposition movement – her photo is on all the placards of Mousavi supporters, many of whom vow revenge.