Discovery Hostage Crisis Proves We're All Reporters Now
It's well known that Twitter is an outstanding source for news. We saw this last summer during the #iranelection fiasco, during the DC #snowpocalypse last Winter, and just yesterday during the #discovery hostage crisis in Silver Spring, Maryland. And while Twitter is great for news any day of the week, it's crises such as these that truly provide a glimpse into our new media world and allow us to participate in the news itself.
Social media has revolutionized the news business--there's no doubt about that. But taking a close look at the way the crisis developed yesterday shows that the way we process and participate in news has not only changed, but it's changed for the better.
News of the crisis first broke on Twitter. Local news outlets quickly picked up the story, finally followed by national media. The investigation was on.
Twitter users and news outlets quickly identified a Web page the gunman had posted early yesterday morning, and then saved it all over the Web in the event that his site should collapse under the strain of the Web traffic or be taken down by authorities (one of which--unsure which--ultimately happened).
Soon the Twittersphere was taken over by #discovery tweets. Some expressed concern, many were communicating updates on the situation, some were offering tips to journalists seeking more information. In the words of one Twitter user, "the #Discovery gunman crisis [had] taken the entire #DC twitter scene hostage."
Other social media played a role as well. Journalists used Foursquare to monitor check-ins at and around the Discovery building in Silver Spring, hoping to pull in sources for stories and interviews. Others, including myself, kept a close watch on
Foursquare for check-ins from friends who worked in the building as Discovery employees--including those who were safely evacuated--and who were instructed not to contact anyone during the early hours of the crisis.
Obviously, the conversation continued on Facebook, various blogs, and numerous smaller social networks around the Web, particularly among DC users.
Twitter, however, quickly became the source for information about the crisis. I myself was contacted by Rick Sanchez of CNN, who was looking for sources of information on the crisis.
Other news organizations relied heavily on Twitter for information as well, and leveraged their own Twitter feeds to push news as it happened throughout the afternoon. Brand new DC local news organization TBD, in
particular, stood out as one of the top sources for breaking news during the crisis, and balanced roles of curating news from local Twitter users and providing details from the ground that many of us could not get. Continued on the next page
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