Citizen media and the earthquake in Haiti
Photo by Daniel Morel via TwitPic. Click on image for more.
Update: Wednesday, 7:21 p.m. We are posting more links in the comments.
Ever since a tsunami devastated South Asia in December 2004, social media and citizen journalism have been recognized as key components of covering natural disasters and other breaking news stories. Professional news organizations can’t be everywhere; on the other hand, millions of people are carrying cell phones with cameras. New-media expert Steve Outing called the tsunami “a tipping point” for citizen journalism.
In such a decentralized news environment, the challenge for journalism has been to make sense of what is happening in something approaching real time. Most recently, social media have played an important role in bringing news of the Iranian protest movement to the outside world.
So when a major earthquake hit western Haiti yesterday, it was no surprise that news organizations, large and small, tapped into Haiti’s online community in order to provide them with the on-the-ground eyes and ears they did not have. Given Haiti’s unfortunate status as one of the poorest countries in the world, you might not think there would be much in the way of electronic communication. In fact, there is a lively and heartbreaking stream of reports coming out of the island.
I’ll begin closest to home. Last night the Boston Haitian Reporter started a live blog to gather accounts from readers and to link out to relevant information. The blog includes a live Twitter stream of news from Haiti. As the Boston Globe observes, there are 43,000 people of Haitian descent living in Greater Boston.
The New York Times, which over the past few years has morphed into one of the most Internet-savvy news organizations, has, not surprisingly, posted stories, a slideshow and a Reuters video. But the real action is taking place on The Lede, its blog for breaking news, which includes everything from staff reports to cell-phone photos posted to TwitPic. The Times has put together a Twitter list of people and organizations posting news updates about Haiti. And it is actively soliciting reports from its readers:
The New York Times would like to connect people inside and outside Haiti who are searching for information about the situation on the ground. Readers outside Haiti who have friends and relatives in the country, along with readers in Haiti who are still able to access the Internet, can use the comments section below as a forum to share updates. Some readers may be searching for the same family members.
Have you been able to reach loved ones in the area affected by the earthquake? What have you learned from people there?
National Public Radio’s efforts bear some similarities to those of the Times. NPR is concentrating its breaking-news and linking efforts on its blog The Two-Way, and it has also assembled a Twitter list.
CNN, whose iReport project is a major outlet for citizen journalists, has put together a page on the Haitian earthquake. As is often the case with citizen media, it’s not always easy to tell what you’re looking at. Some of the images are quite graphic, and are slapped with a label reading “Discretion advised.”
One of my favorite examples of professional journalists and citizen bloggers working together is Global Voices Online, a project founded at Harvard Law’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society several years ago. Global Voices’ editors round up bloggers from every part of the world. For the most part, they labor in obscurity. But not at moments like this.
As of this morning you’ll find a compilation of tweets and photos and a digest of what bloggers in Haiti and throughout the Caribbean are saying. Here is Afrobella, described as a “Trinidadian diaspora blogger”:
Right now my heart aches for Haiti. The already-suffering island nation was just hit with a 7.0 earthquake. A hospital has collapsed. Government buildings have been severely damaged. There was a major tsunami watch, earlier. Reports of major devastation are just starting to pour in…my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Haiti, and anyone with friends or family in Haiti.
You can also click through directly to Afrobella’s blog.
Twitter itself is a good source of raw information. At the moment, Yéle, a charity founded by Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean, is the number-two trending topic, and “Help Haiti” is number three. If you want to dip into the Twitter torrent, try searching on #haiti.
Tags: Boston Haitian Reporter, CNN, earthquake, Global Voices, Haiti, National Public Radio, new media, New York Times, social media, Twitter
“If you want to dip into the Twitter torrent, try searching on #haiti.”
… but not before you choose: the blue bill or the red pill.
Like your post, Dan. Are you going to be following this further? We’re continuing to pull in links at GV.
@Ivan: Hoping to keep up on it. Feel free to post links here.
It is too bad that the US Government response has been to provide to charity rather than a deployment of troops and resources to the island. Minimally, we would need a deployment of 1 Combat Engineer Brigade with substantial medical support for 90 days to provide search and rescue relief.
Watching this unfold in real-time online was extraordinary and heartbreaking. The raw feed of images was notable; nothing like it on the major news sites. I took the time to write up how it was covered last night too. As requested, Dan, here’s the link:
Covering disaster on the real time Web: Haiti earthquake.
Here’s a link to the Global Voices Special Coverage section on the quake. We’ll be updating as we go. Note articles also translated into multiple languages – Spanish, French, Chinese, Dutch, etc.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/specialcoverage/haiti-earthquake-2010/
Thanks Dan.
BVB, it is my understanding that the Coast Guard was doing photographic reconnaissance flights within hours of the quake.
At least give the Government an opportunity to formulate a complete response before you criticize. Even I would give them that chance.
Charitable aid is the easiest mobilize; I commend them for their quick response.
I am also impressed with The Boston Haitian Reporter for their efforts in informing their community.
The Globe blog Worldly Boston has compiled a long and valuable list of Haitian relief organizations, governmental agencies and other resources.
And as you might expect, the Globe’s Big Picture blog comes through in a big way.
What? No mention of the “coverage” all the Haitian radio pirates in Boston are providing of the earthquake?
After all, this is supposed to be one of the few (very few) times that these pirates can allegedly justify themselves. I don’t agree with that sentiment, but I’d be interested if other people do agree with it.
@Aaron: The comments are open. If you’ve got some links, have at it!
I noticed Matt Lauer/Today say that this is “a major test” for the Obama administration. Implying that Obama could fail in ways similar to Bush failing in New Orleans, after Katrina.
This of course is nonsense. But with major news coverage it’s likely our response will be criticized, for its lack of immediacy.
These are PIRATE radio stations, by definition illegal. Many don’t have websites, and a quick Google search seems to show that those that do aren’t spending much time updating them.
No I’m talking more about how these pirates are allegedly using their airwaves to air calls, help family members learn information, etc. I have no idea if they are…I don’t live in Boston anymore and even if I did, I don’t know what all their frequencies are since many of them come and go at odd hours. I think there’s a big Haitian pirate on 101.3FM and another on 89.3FM, but I don’t know where they’re based or how good their coverage is. There are (or were) a bunch between 1580 and 1700 AM, too.
http://haiti.ushahidi.com/
A colleague forwarded this link and description from Anne-christine d’Adesky.
“Our colleagues at Ushahidi have adapted their interactive mobile user-friendly online platform for crisis reporting & mapping of the situation in Haiti. People within & outside Haiti can report directly to the site via a mobile phone or computer for oral, written & video upload posts. The Ushahidi site will then map the reports & verify sources.
“They are hoping this can help shepard people donating to relief efforts and mapping services to people urgently needing help.”
All the press about “Citizen Journalism” seems to have supplanted what I thought was a noble endeavor – “civic journalism” – which I take loosely to mean reporting which trys to help a community collectively solve its problems. I would say this Ushahidi site falls within the definition of both citizen and civic journalism.
From Voice of America: “UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Wednesday that at least 16 UN personnel with the peacekeeping mission in Haiti perished in the powerful earthquake that shook the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.”
I confess my first thought is wondering whether the U.N. will hastily depart Haiti, as the Haitian government apparently cannot guarantee their safety.
[...] Citizen media, including blogs, video reports and Twitter are becoming more influential as sources of information these days. See Global Voices‘ Georgia Popplewell’s early tweet-based report here , her colleague Janine Mendes-Franco later account here or problogger Dan Kennedy’s extensive compilation of citizen media about the Haiti Earthquake here. [...]