I continue to be amazed and saddened by the fallout from Hurricane Katrina. Many folks with computers and internet connections have done a remarkable job of connecting people with information and donations.
A few media-related themes have emerged:
- "Citizen’s Journalism" is now the official term, as decreed by CNN and the other MSM outlets getting their best stuff from non-professional journos.
- While the efforts of many to connect many are remarkable, the need for editors, for filtering, for (dare I say it) centralization are in sharp relief.
- Internet coverage doesn’t do you a bloody lot of good when you have no electricity and no connectivity. It’s not a cure-all, but if this country was where Japan and Europe were two years ago in terms of mobile phone technology, people would have had a better chance of getting and relaying information.
Some interesting thoughts from Jeff Jarvis and Mark Cuban.
UPDATE: Yahoo! has the tool that’s been needed to unify the databases of lost & found.
