One Day in Gaza | Close Up

Al Jazeera English’s One Day In Gaza is a moving social video showing life inside a city besieged, told through the eyes of Palestinians from the point of view of their phone cameras. We see everything from a child rehearsing violin to the shocking impacts of a steady bombardment. Powerfully, the report does not merely focus on trauma, but the ways everyday people survive unimaginable horror. The report ends with a group of people smiling and singing, hopeful for a new day. Filmed just two months after the horrific events of October 7, 2023, the social video represents the power of citizen journalism stewarded by a legacy media company. It shows how social media can succinctly spotlight the lives of communities that traditional journalism cannot always access. Few could have documented the situation in Gaza with such intimacy, a result of a policy that required international journalists to have military escorts and pre-review of their broadcasts. In this context, handing reporting over to everyday citizens is not only a revolutionary act but a necessary practice for any journalistic organization. For seeking a balanced understanding of one of the deadliest military campaigns in recent history, One Day in Gaza wins a Peabody Award.