Crowdsourcing Crisis: How Civic Media Informs Breaking News

The first half of 2011 has seen dramatic events — some tragic, others encouraging — take place across the globe. From revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia to an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, breaking news has been reported by individual citizens as well as professional journalists. And explaining the complex nuances of unfolding events has shown the power of civic media in informing local communities and the wider world. In this session, we talked with two individuals who’ve been part of efforts to share perspectives from civic media with a global audience. Mohamed Nanabhay, Head of New Media at the AlJazeera Network, helped unpack the North African revolutions using video from Facebook and other online sources. Joi Ito, the new head of MIT's Media Lab, has worked with a group of civic reporters and citizen scientists in Japan to document the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The two will discuss the emerging media environment, where professional and civic media interact to produce a richer and more inclusive picture of global events.

Channel: MIT TechTV Video Length: 86m 0s Date Found: Thu, Jul 14 2011 10:11 AM Category: Educational Date Produced: Wed, Jul 13 2011 8:57 AM View Count: 0