Citizen Reported Media

Thanks to blogs and podcasts, now you too can be a journalist, really. A new epidemic is out there and it's called Citizen Reported Media. It is exactly that. People with or without any formal journalistic training reporting on things that happen or they find interesting. CNN is already pushing this. Think of it this way. Who better to report what was happening in New Orleans than the people that were there? The Janet Jackson Nipple-slip was written about on blogs the minute after it happened. Someone Ti-Vo'd the clip and posted it almost immediately and BAM!, instant exposure (no pun intended). When the bombs went off in London a couple of months ago, how do you think the media got information that fast? Pictures were taken from camera phones and posted on the web. People wrote blog entries almost immediately after that happened. Do you think a newsroom works that fast? They have so much red-tape to go through before publishing. Sites like Cyber Journalist really showcase what's going on. If you think that's neat, you'll really like ComVu's Pocket Caster. This little baby enables you to shoot video and broadcast it right to the internet all from the palm of your hand. Talk about creepy. You will never know if someone is filming you for, say, a what not to wear special for posting on their blog later that night. Better dress nice!