Wow! Those intrepid citizen journalists!
 It proved nigh impossible to stop watching cable TV coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last night, and now at least two broadcast networks are devoting an hour of prime time to the disaster tonight. Still, there’s one story, covered during every recent crisis, that we could do without: the “citizen journalist” story. You know, the one in which journalists who are paid to cover big stories express amazement at those plucky everyday folks who record the chaos around them using video, cell-phone cameras and their blogs and—wow!—post it on the Internet. Isn’t that amazing?! Of course, it’s not. What is amazing is how posts from people directly affected by the disaster are often so much more compelling than anything a paid journalist can produce. By the way, here’s a link to the Red Cross donation form.
—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor
Credit: UPI Photo/Vincent LaForet/Pool
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August 31, 2005 | Permalink
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Comments
Not to jump on the oft conservative claim that the press in this country really sucks... But there are a lot of overpaid talking heads on air, more reminiscent of overpaid baseball and basketball players than the Ed Asner types of lore. Maybe I’m just jealous because advertising doesn’t pay quite as well as professional sports, Wall Street, or one of those EVP gigs at the networks... but welcome the bloggers.
Posted by: Greg | Aug 31, 2005 3:00:30 PM
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