Watching the Watchers and McLuhan's Tetrad: The Limits of Cop-Watching in the Internet Age

Video-taping police actions as a form of political activism—also known as “cop watching”—has been an activity which has garnered much scrutiny and media attention in recent years. Many hold the idea of cop watching as a realization of the democratic potential promised to us by the Internet. Primarily drawing from the theoretical lens provided by Marshall McLuhan, however, this essay argues that the medium is the message or, rather, the use of video clips shared through the internet may actually neutralize to some extent the political potential of this form of activism in many ways. As such, caution is warranted in over-emphasizing the power that video-activism may bring in halting or at least drawing attention to acts of police brutality and corruption.