I'm sure that everyone knows what's happened in Mumbai by now. If you don't, or you somehow managed to miss the 195 and counting casualties, as usual, Wikipedia has all the answers. Go educate yourself.
But for those of you who know about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, I'd like to discuss the role the web played in the reporting the attacks. I was struck as I went to website after website, blog after blog, as I received tweet after tweet, about the attacks. I could see pictures, watch video feed from cell phones, and I knew about every casualty or grenade before CNN reported it.
It was terrifying and strangely fantastical. To be able to see every picture, to hear every report of terror (no matter if it was real or imagined), it was almost as though I was there. I was too frozen myself to tweet, and even if I wasn't, there was nothing I could have added to the thousands and thousands of reports pouring in every five seconds.
CNN.com has an article that discusses the impact tweeting and blogging and the internet in general had on the attacks and the world's reaction to them. It was interesting to read, but it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
Citizen journalism led the reports of the Mumbai attacks. Some sources say that it was helpful, other say it helped the terrorists, and still others say that the rumors and incorrect reports caused more panic than there would have been otherwise. Of course, there were thousands of inaccuracies and exaggerations. But there was also real, honest information that kept me more informed than any news website.
I am frankly shocked by the online community's cooperation and impact. Some blogs posted about hospitals that needed blood, other were there so people could ask after missing family members. Someone even managed to capture a picture of one of the terrorists.
I know that some people are derisive or even angry about the online response. But I am just enthralled by how quickly and decisively the information came to me. As soon as I wanted something, it was there, just a click or a Google search away.
I know that I normally ask questions at the end of my blogs, but I only wanted to discuss how fascinating the web response to the attacks were.
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It goes to show the gap between typical news and their audience has been completely destroyed, and along with it, the loyalty to a corporation, editors, a necessity to check facts, etc. In the mumbai attack, news channels were relying on citizen journalists to supply them with pictures, video, and information. I think this can be a scary thing if they don't know who they are necessarily getting their information from.
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