Yes it’s an interesting question. Where do you look for stuff about the local area on line? Living in the metro NYC area, the issue here is will it be big enough to get coverage in the area news?
Thanks,
Chris

I think we will have reached the turning point when we just naturally turn to Social Media rather than TV, or Radio. But we aren’t there yet.

As for CJ, I lived in San Jose for the Loma Prieta Quake in 1989, and here in NYC for 9/11. TV & Radio and Print in both cases were filled with CJ reports. Much of which was wild speculation and rumors with no basis in fact. I don’t see the forces that could change or improve this significantly in the future.

Chris

So in an emergency, I’d probably turn to our local paper’s web site. If it were a really major emergency, I might also look at the SCEMD web site.

The new media tools we’re all using are so much more efficient than the time-delayed and edited vehicles that traditional media is using…still.

I’ve heard from two different people in the last two days that the Boston Globe and Boston.com are TOTALLY separate and neither crew talks to each other.

I also heard from Steve Garfield about how the Internet arm of ABC didn’t fully leverage a great interview he did with his mother.

Until the people who are making the news and editorial decisions start to use and understand the tools that have popped up in the last three years, we’re going to see a larger divide.

*One caveat is that there is NO substitute for editorial direction and journalism training. If a ‘citizen journalist’ is just reporting (meaning showing and giving just facts on a topic or event), then they are as powerful and should be as respected as any reporter.

BUT when CJs jump into offering commentary about an event, the content consumers should be careful and understand that the person reporting may not be governed by the journalism ethics and editorial direction that most traditional journalists are trained in.

Jeff
http://www.jeffcutler.com