Primary Source News: Riots in Vancouver

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Riots in Vancouver

Photo courtesy Mark Donovan's Flikr.

Following the Vancouver Canucks's loss to the Boston Bruins in game seven of the NHL Stanley Cup finals, rioting broke out in Vancouver. Stores were looted, cars were smashed, and some were beaten by angry mobs.

Rioters smashing a car were confronted by a lone individual who demanded they stop. "This is our city. What the fuck are you doing," he asked.

Another man who attempted to stop rioters from smashing storefronts was badly beaten. (Beating begins at 3:15, WARNING - graphic video.)

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Mission Statement

In historical scholarship, a primary source is a document, sound recording, video recording, original work or other source of information that was created at or near the time being studied, often by the people being studied. In this sense primary does not mean superior. It refers to creation by the primary players, and is distinguished from a secondary source, which is a historical work, like a scholarly book or article, built up from primary sources.

Given that in the modern age we have vast amounts of information available, the question often arises, "What can we know for sure?" The Internet and information technology have made primary source materials more widely available than ever before, yet the presentation of the news is too often commentary with little substance.

The interviews, government documents, statements, art and images we are providing represents the raw data that is the news. A picture of the news that only examines primary sources is, of course, incomplete. But a picture that only involves debate and opinion may lose sight of what the story actually is.