Take a look at today’s Wikipedia entry on today’s Mumbai terrorist attacks — a comprehensive and valuable addition to the breaking news we’re getting from TV and other sources. There are two fundamental elements to note: the rapid updating and the long list of links at the bottom.
No, we can’t fully trust what we see here, because Wikipedia is susceptible to tampering. And yes, it relies on traditional journalism sources for much of the information. But this resource is immensely valuable as a backgrounder.
Also: Once I wondered whether Wikinews would be a valuable journalism source. It’s increasingly clear that Wikipedia itself is vastly more important when it comes to major events. Compare the Wikipedia entry above to the Wikinews Mumbai entry, and you’ll see why.
on Nov 26th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
@Dan: Yes, Wikipedia, along with Twitter and NowPublic, has been the most important source of news updates on the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Here’s a roundup of social media citizen journalism coverage on the Mumbai terrorist attacks: http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/real-time-citizen-journalism-in-mumbai-terrorist-attacks/
on Nov 26th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
[…] Dan Gillmor has written a nice post onthe role of Wikipedia as a news breaking source in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. […]
on Nov 27th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I was even more fascinated by the Coveritlive reporting done on some websites. Dutch free daily De Pers had the minute by minute account running in its story on Mumbai. Felt as if you were very close. See: http://tinyurl.com/6qgp5d
on Nov 28th, 2008 at 9:35 am
[…] mentre Charles Arthur (sempre sul Guardian; molto interessante anche il pezzo di Jessica Reed) e Dan Gilmor notano soprattutto l’accuratezza e la velocità della pagina dedicata agli eventi da […]
on Nov 29th, 2008 at 9:25 am
[…] in 2002, makes two critical points about the difference between social media and MSM in his post Wikipedia as Vital Breaking News Source: one, the significantly higher frequency of updates in social media and two, the incredible […]
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 8:01 am
[…] Wikipedia as Vital Breaking News Source – Center for Citizen Media "Also: Once I wondered whether Wikinews would be a valuable journalism source. It’s increasingly clear that Wikipedia itself is vastly more important when it comes to major events. Compare the Wikipedia entry above to the Wikinews Mumbai entry, and you’ll see why." (tags: wikis news credibility breaking+news tidbits+fodder) […]