IP Democracy: Hurricane Katrina Spurs Widespread Citizen Journalism

As one of the worst, if not the worst, storm to hit the U.S. since at least the 1950s, Hurricane Katrina is fostering widespread citizen efforts to keep the world informed of the storm’s progress. Boing Boing has an extended piece on the blogs and web-based efforts to track Katrina. Current is calling for donated videos.

And Dan Gillmor has a posting on Katrina’s effects on citizen journalism. He raises a good question, though, one worth mulling over in a situation like this:

I’m glad CNN and other news outlets are encouraging the citizen journalism movement. Yet I wonder if this invites people to put themselves in harm’s way. The folks whose professional duties involve risk-taking of this kind already know the risks. Do others?

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 29, 2005 8:44 AM to IP Democracy