I was on campus at the time and, like others here, wanted to find out more. One of the best sources turned out to be not mainstream media, but the citizen media site, NowPublic.com.

One of its contributors, ScienceDave, happened to be in the building at the time as he is a graduate science student. He provided a detailed account of what was happening, including little touches like:

Students in my office are currently playing pictionary…team 2 is winning.

This showed the potential of a site like NowPublic – the ability to tap into an account from someone at the scene of breaking news. The coverage by mainstream media, with the tendency to rely on official statements, was nothing compared to the snippets of information trickling out from ScienceDave.

A blogger caught on campus also recommended NowPublic, saying, “Sick and tired of being told nothing? Nothing susbstantial (sic) in the media? Try this.”

I am not saying that there is no role for professional journalists, far from it. They can help to put events like these in context and give the news meaning.

But this example highlights how members of the public at the centre of the news can play a role in reporting the news.

(As a former journalist, I could not resist contributing to the story, in a very minor way, with a slightly blurry photo of the police helicopter circling over.)

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