Viewer's report
- 19 Jan 07, 12:27 PM
This week on Newsnight we showed a remarkable film about cocaine (which you can watch here). It was the first time I'd ever seen in such detail the peasants who make the drug - using nostril-rotting ingredients such as sulphuric acid, recycled petrol and cement - and the gangsters and drug-runners who control and distribute it.
The film started life some months ago as a made by Matthew Bristow, who lives and works in Colombia. When we announced our Oh My Newsnight film competition, Matthew's mum saw it and urged him to enter. His two minute entry duly came runner up in our viewer's poll and then Matthew contacted us to ask if we would help him make a full length version. Having seen his rushes we readily agreed and, yes, we paid him.
Newsnight's aim is to make the most interesting and challenging films from around the world. Most often that will be done by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's expert correspondents and that will be the case as long as there is Newsnight. But occasionally, when viewers or independent journalists can gather material we never could, or which would take a huge amount of time and expense to achieve, it makes sense.
That's the kind of user-generated content Newsnight is looking for. if you have it.
Peter Barron is editor of Newsnight
