High Tech: Reporting on the Crisis in Mumbai

First, speaking for everyone at Makovsky + Company, let me say that our hearts break for India and the people of Mumbai, both residents and visitors. Like New York, Mumbai is the financial capital of the nation. Like Mumbai, we in New York are unfortunately all-too-familiar with the consequences of terrorism.

Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time channel surfing the news networks on cable TV, trying to get a coherent perspective on the deadly terror attacks, with little luck. Coverage was brief, often contradictory and peppered with commercials. Finally, I turned to the social media, which were rich with raw, up-to-the-minute information and images.

For example, as the mainstream media struggled to catch up with fast-breaking news, the technology-empowered social media, including users of Twitter, were posting real-time accounts of the crisis to their friends and family worldwide. (Twitter is a free micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ brief text-based updates — or “tweets.”)

While it’s true that there were lots of rumors and false reports on Twitter, bloggers like Amy Gahran, a self-employed media consultant, worked hard to separate the facts from the hokum by checking out rumors.

We’re all citizen journalists today. I just wish we didn’t have to be combat journalists.