Social media – citizen journalism: changing the world: Mumbai Terror.

Back in the 20th century (I know, sounds awful doesn’t it) we used to read newspapers, listen to the radio or watch the news on television. The internet as a news source was still in its infancy back in 1999, yet today it is supplanting the old ways of doing things. Not only that, new ways of disseminating news are becoming apparent.

These days I very rarely buy a newspaper. I know of many others who have ceased buying them too. One of the problems with newspapers is that they are so out of date, especially compared to some of the up to minute technologies being used on the web. A key recent example is that news of the Chinese earthquakes first appeared on Twitter – before mainstream online media carried stories. And of course, newspapers were even further behind. By definition a newspaper is so called because it carries news; but is old news really news? I am reminded of someone whom many years ago when in a school class, was reading a newspaper and got caught by the teacher who said to the miscreant: “I thought this was a history lesson?”. The miscreant replied: “It is Sir – it’s yesterdays.” His response was greeted by hoots of laughter from the “audience”.

The reporting of attacks in Mumbai, India are a classic example of modern social media and citizen journalism coming to the fore. The material from these sources has been much more up to date and detailed than even the conventional online news sites. Here are some examples:

Vinu’s Flickr stream of live pictures

Wikipedia article on Mumbai terror

Real Time Citizen Journalism in Mumbai Terrorist Attacks Note the strikeouts as the article is updated.

Global Voices – an evolving page.

Twitter – fast, regular updates. Note: type in the word Mubai or click the link “Mumbai” if visible.

Twitter Handbook (Cautionary comment) - Mumbai News as It Happens.. But What Really Happened?

Mumbai Help – assistance with contacting people and some lists of names of the dead and injured.

If you need to contact the Mumbai Police you can visit this site.

Another news source I have found useful over the years, often containing news that never reaches, or is never displayed on, mainstream online media is Debka File , and its associated site Debka Net Weekly.