"Oregon Snow" by 1001 wordsThis is one of the hundreds of photos posted today on Flickr.com that chronicle Oregon's first snow of the season. Some others include:
What got me thinking about searching for these photos is Charlie Beckett's discussion of "networked journalism" in his book, "Supermedia: Saving Journalism So It Can Save the World."
Chapter 2, "Is It a Bird? Is It a Plane? No! It's Supermedia!" includes an interesting flow chart showing how the media and readers work collaboratively to cover a breaking news story. The story evolves through the use of Twitter, Flickr, e-mail, Facebook, Web sites, and personal blogs compiled by journalists along with readers -- all simultaneously contributing words, sounds and images.
So, Monday my family and I are in the middle of a snow day -- Oregon's first storm of the season -- and wondering what the rest of the state looks like. Television news is great if you don't mind waiting til some station gets around to it, and the focus naturally is on Portland or Eugene. The newspaper arrived late this morning and the next edition will arrive and be buried on my driveway tomorrow morning. And the newspaper's Web site isn't much help.
In contrast, I can get hundreds of different pictures from around Oregon via Flickr. And my Facebook account is alive all day with reports from friends who are either enjoying the day or coping with travel. With some additional online searches, I can find all kinds of information that's more relevant to my family and neighbors.
As Beckett notes: "The public will help choose, research, produce, and disseminate the journalism. ... Networked journalists have to be aware of the potential resource this kind of platform offers, both in terms of information gathering, but also in building a consumer community."
-rp-
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