A Fly on the wall

On Friday afternoon, I went over to the Winnipeg Free Press website to take a quick glance at the day’s events, but instead I ended up staying on the website for about 20 minutes. The Free Press website had me hooked.

And ironically, it had nothing to do with a piece of writing.

No, for 20 minutes on Friday, I went on the website of Winnipeg’s most popular newspaper and watched video.

Live video of a roundabout.

A camera was set up at the infamous roundabout located at Grosvenor Avenue and Waverley Street, just days after a collision at the spot sent people into a frenzy.

So the camera sat there, for nearly 10 hours, and people watched.

So where to begin?

Well, to start, this further proves that video is an integral part of the Winnipeg Free Press website as well as other media outlet websites. But we knew that already.

(By the way, my thoughts on roundabouts….I think they’re a great addition to Winnipeg roads. It’s just a matter of figuring them out, which can be a struggle for some people. Somebody has to teach these people how to properly drive through a roundabout. That’s up to you, Sam or Judy…)

Watching the roundabout brought me back in time a bit.

One example it reminded me of was the days of going to my Grandma’s apartment block on Tuxedo Avenue. There was a camera set up at the front of the building where everyone buzzes in. And it turns out, everyone who lived in the building had a channel on their television that showed 24/7 coverage of this camera, basically so they could see their guest coming in. So naturally, when we visited, I immediately turned the television to the “buzz-in” channel. Waiting for people to walk in and then finally watching somebody enter was fascinating to me.

This brings us to Friday where the Winnipeg Free Press website featured all-day video of the River Heights roundabout. And take a guess as to what I did?

I waited for cars to come. And when they came into view, my eyes perked up. Would we see a crash? Would I be watching breaking news unfold right before my eyes?

Trust me, I wasn’t the only one doing this.

And that’s why I think this was a great move by the Free Press. Why did they set up a camera at this roundabout? Why were there journalists live tweeting from the Russell Williams case for The Globe and Mail? Because people are interested. They want to be the fly on the wall.

And with the introduction in the last decade of live streaming video, tweeting, and live blogging, we are finally being able to realize our secret dreams of being a fly on the wall.

We can see them but they can’t see us. This is why we keep waiting for that next car to reach the roundabout, or waiting for that next detail in the Williams case. We just can’t turn away.

When we were asked in Grade 1 what animal or insect we wanted to be, how many people answered a fly?

Because the way media websites are operating nowadays, we’re buzzing around for the goods. And we can’t stop.


Here are the "highlights" from the roundabout coverage on Friday.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid35098648001?bclid=1485806145&bctid=644191056001