Iconic Media Over The Past 50 Years

There has been many iconic clips filmed over the past fifty years, the following are the four that stuck out most to me.

WARNING: Some of the below videos may cause distress or upset.

Concorde on Fire

On 25th July 2000, a concorde set alight in the air and killed all 100 passengers, nine crew members aboard the flight and four people on the ground. The above footage is the only footage available and was filmed on one of the first camera phones from a member of the public's phone.

9/11

The above is on of the, if not the most, tragic incidents of my generation. The devastating attack was recorded live. Shortly after it was first released, the footage of the plane actually crashing into the building was no longer shown as it was deemed too distressing.

I Have A Dream

August 28, 1963; Martin Luther King delivers an emotive and world changing speech, known as 'I have a dream'. This televised speech has gone down in history as one of the best speeches ever delivered. 

 Michael Buerk's Ethiopia Report

I'd like to concentrate on this last video, which effected people on a global scale; all it took was a short television report by Michael Buerk on the BBC 9pm news in 1984. The images are shocking; people being touched on the head if they were to receive the much needed food and those rejected, looking to an inevitable and fast approaching death, watching those that have been chosen to receive food and shelter, combined with his evocative language, the broadcast showed the tragedy of biblical proportion.  This sparked a massive movement in charitable actions across the world, the nation’s opinion changed entirely and everybody came together as a community to help stop the poverty in Ethiopia. Straight after it was broadcast donations were flooding into existing charities and had an impact on a certain person, who would start something to change the world; this was Bob Geldof.

He is the man behind Live Aid, which got so much food and necessities over to Ethiopia. It all started off with Geldof contacted some of the best known names in music such as George Michael, Bono and Bananarama to create a charity single where all the profits would go to helping the people of Ethiopia. This was the first record ever made that was free from any tax due to Bob Geldof publically standing up to Margaret Thatcher making all the headlines, even a studio was offered to them at no charge for 24 hours to create the record. The single went straight to No.1 in the charts and outsold every other song in the chart combined. It became the fasted selling track in the UK of all time, selling well over a million copies in the first week of its release. After the charity record was released, Geldof decided to set up Live Aid, organising concerts across the world. With the profits of Band Aid and Live Aid combined, approximately 283 million pounds was raised for the Ethiopian famine.

The impact was huge, following the release of the first Band Aid single in 1984, numerous records have been produced to support charitable causes, even another Band Aid single in 2004, all with a direct correlation to Bob Geldof. Together with the actions of Michael Buerk and Bob Geldof, the nation felt like a global community and united in a cause that was deep in everyone’s hearts.