Forget CNN, which so far has few details of the ongoing attacks in Mumbai, India that have left at least 80 dead (Update: they’re starting to catch up now). People are giving first hand reports of what they’re seeing directly on Twitter. Flickr is another important information resources – images are here.
Twitter isn’t the place for solid facts yet – the situation is way too disorganized. But it’s where the news is breaking. GroundReport is doing a good job of aggregating citizen reports. Both Wikipedia and Mahalo have constantly updated pages with known facts.
I’m not sure what to feel about that picture. It’s quite disturbing. It looks like he just blasted 10 people with that AK-47 and now has a evil grin on his face.
But at same time, this dude could be a member of India Special Operations (thus in plain clothes). His facial expression could be a grimace (you can’t quite tell if it’s a smile or not). Or if it is, maybe he’s smiling because another soldier just took out a terrorist out of view of the camera.
My point is you don’t know what this photo is portraying. You don’t even know if it was taken in Mumbai – it could be taken last year in a different part of the world.
As much as it is interesting to see the raw accounts and photos coming out of a situation like the awful events that are unfolding in Mumbai, it is important people don’t draw conclusions from very subjective information.
Having worked at the sharp end of online media for a few years during the rise of citizen journalism I’ve seen human error miss-interpret un-annotated raw photos from the public, I’ve also witnesses numerous accounts to subvert the media with dis-information and photoshopped photos from citizen journalists. These people ranged from pranksters to those with a vested interest (lobby groups, campaign groups, terrorist organizations etc). I wouldn’t be surprised if that can stretch to governments themselves as part of ‘dis-information’ warfare.
I’m not against Citizen Journalism – but on it’s own a single photo means nothing – it’s only in aggregate or with corroborated accounts from trusted sources can you use such media to add value to such a news story.
And of course my sympathies go out to all those effected by these awful events in India.
Ben, all true. But the tv stations are also showing this picture and saying it’s a terrorist. Same issues apply there.
Oh, I’m sure that is a terrorist. My point is not specifically about that given photo but the concept of using Flickr, Twitter, etc in general for breaking news and making assumptions based upon individual assets.
Yes the same issues do apply to the mainstream news media. But while we, the people, are best placed to share media with each other, the news outlets are better placed to corroborated information from are seeing the aggregate and can back up with trusted sources such as their own journalists.
Point is you need media (pics, on the ground accounts, etc) to be distributed AND you need corroboration. That’s why mainstream media isn’t dead nor is grassroots media not a valid concept. It’s the balance of both.
Might we see a sort of hybrid model? an extremely large network of citizen journalists who get ranked for their truthiness?
Hey, the TV says it’s true.
Ben, I wish I could digg your comments up.
This photo is not taken from Flickr or any other social media sites. This is a cam pic which was initially posted by Times of India portal stating that he is a terrorist. Also special forces without the uniform may not carry automatic weapons – they will be carrying pistols. Also this guy is too young to be one. See some of the other pics here (The language is Marathi)
http://maharash...ics/3762109.cms
I agree, it is terrible what’s happening. But we are ‘fed’ information that we’re ’supposed’ to see, and ‘interpretations’ we’re ’supposed’ to make.
Don’t take anything at face value. Too many ‘illusions’ being created these days.
Pete.
He is a terrerist and he has been killed by indian commandos.
The tragedy has struck India. These kind of attacks in fact have been faced by India since times immemorial. India and the whole world has to rise above their differences and take up the fight to finish these terrorists.
Ben,
You seem to be a typical terrorist lover trying to confuse the issue. This SOB shot at crowd of thousands in a crowded train station many at point blank range and hence the crud/blood on his face.
Since you seem to be so worried about disinformation chew on this. What is common between NY Times, CNN, and Fox News ?
Wahhabi Saudis the same guys who funded the Mubai terror.
All these news sources have been heavily funded(in billions) and owned at least 5% by the Wahhabi Saudis. Look up just one name Bin Tala Al Saud the same guy who gave Rudy a $10 M dollar check, and he also gave $20M to Harvard, Georgetown, and Columbia. Most Guntanamo law firms seem to be doing about $25-$30M a year in business with his shell companies.
So don’t make snide comments mixing terrorist with a people laying their lives to protect our kith and kin.
I just wonder who is funding you and your disinformation ? Saudis …
This is insane… some real life 24 shit goin down. Get Jack Bauer on a jet
sic
That’s sad.
And yeah, Twitter has proven to be a useful news tool. Better news on twitter than on the telly.
Agreed, if it wasn’t for twitter I wouldn’t have known about this.
Nice screenshot. Can you spot which one is the asshat?
On the other hand, there’s proof of Twitter’s usefulness aside from recreational
I’m from Bombay and this is terrible. I’ve spent so much time in each one of the places hit it’s scary. This is way too close to home.
Here’s a live TV news source covering the attacks:
http://ibnlive....o_streaming.php
(I think IBN is CNN’s news partner in India)
Rakesh and others, thanks for the reference to ibn and other live sources of news. CNN was stagnant with the same info and even made some stupid errors like refering to the Taj Mahal when it’s the Taj hotel. Big difference.
I’ve been following the news almost exclusively on Twitter, and the firsthand accounts hit home.
Reading the stream and then going to my normal Twitter feed is a strange juxtaposition, a reminder of how disconnected from tragedy we can be even as it is happening.
I’m with you on that one. Very sad how disconnected we are…
Some will complain that Twitter is not ‘trusted’ information – but in my personal opinion, I would rather here what real people have to say about it. I trust the people more than major media to tell it like it REALLY is…
But as always… Trust then verify!
Agreed, I would rather hear individuals’ accounts of what’s going on rather than wait for a major news source to deliver their story.
The true power of Twitter and Flickr is in providing real life experiences of events and the happenings in the world around us/them. Thank you TechCrunch for posting this. I predict that News websites as we know them will greatly change in 2009 as more and more people open Flickr and Twitter accounts and high speed internet access expands around the globe.
Respect and admiration from a loyal reader!
Adrian Eden
I don’t use it, but I remember reading that Gup Shup (Hindi equivalent of “chit chat” or “shooting the shit”) was the Indian twitter. I’m just starting to read data from their service, but it may also be a good source of real-time news from Bombay/Mumbai:
http://www.smsgupshup.com/
#Mumbai ~ 1st Tweets Timeline… http://tweetip.us/lkphd
I think between the “citizen journalist” accounts paired with their pictures of actuality – the world as we once knew it is gone …
Thank God but I also wish people’s hatred changed with it….
Was on twitter link used above. After about 10 secs it told me that 108 more stories were linked to the search. after that another 45. Shows you how vast twitter is becoming.
Here Wiki map of the event:
http://www.umap.../view/id/15950/
Feel free to edit it and add more locations as things progress.
Wow. Twitter has really become a beast – incredible mainstream adoption and universal ubiquity. If only they could somehow monetize or get cash for each “twit” like carriers get per text message. $0.20 a piece – haha. Of course people would stop using it immediately – but would be awesome if people still kept using a paid model.
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Thanks Michael,
As a result of our contributors’ efforts, GroundReport has been breaking updates hours before Western mainstream media sources. See all our India coverage here:
http://www.grou...®ion=100
Many of our reporters are on the ground in India, and our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Mahalo is quite good, but BBC TV much better than anything on the net
I haven’t seen a single credible piece of information go by on Twitter that hasn’t already been reported by the mainstream media.
Visually compelling scrolling interface aside, perhaps you can provide some evidence to support your claim that it is “where the news is breaking.”
wow another twitter push
omggggggggggggg
“Fortunately” there are still terrorists. Without, we would have to care about the real problems in the world, which are the financial crisis, the wars, the hunger, the diseases, the pollution.
Cynic, but true. Sadly.
If someone kills your family — it is a “real” problem…no? Ass.
click my name and go indulge yourself, its the closest to human contact an asshat like you will ever get.
I’m pretty sure that your loved ones being ruthlessly murdered for nothing more than hatred of a system that they do not control IS a real problem, too.
Please pray for my missing family at the Chabad of Mumbai.
Twitter has been successful in distributing the news and alerts much more than that of CNN or any news station in India, like IBN or NDTV, solely because its aggregating information from all places.
Numerous TV stations information are filtering into the Mumbai timeline, and primary sources of the issue are coming in. It really is terrific.
people are getting killed and it so important to discuss where the news came from
Sree Sreenavsian, Dean of Columbia School of Journalism hosted a live broadcast on BlogTalkRadio http://www.blog...kradio.com/saja
Alan
CEO
Here’s pic of of terrorists. They look like any college going kid
i think that Pakistan is responsibal for every thing and we should talk to Pakistan abut it
http://maharash...ics/3762109.cms
i think we all should have solidayryti in are life in India also in have so much coreption
Over 50000 Hindus dead in Kashmir.
Another 50000 Hindus dead all over India.
Attach on Indian Parliament..
Then 7/11/2007 in Mumbai..
Now 11/26/2008 again in Mumbai..
Will the USA stop India from invading Pakistan and getting rid of all Jehadi Terrorists ?
USA has no moral right to stop India now…
We all know Pakistan is clearly the Largest sponsor of terror…
I fail to understand why USA still supports Pakistan?
Just give the green signal and the brave Indian army will clean up all Jehadis and crazy terrorists from the world..
But unfortunately USA will not allow India to do anything..
Indian politicians will issue a statement that the Soul of Mumbai cannot be broken..
Indian army will sit like eununch because USA will not allow India to do anything on the Paki terror camps..
What a shame !!! USA stop interfering in Indian affairs and allow India to deal with this on their own…
Agreed, Sunny. The USA and EU interfere too much with issues that are not their own.
3ull5hit.. the count u said must be many times more .. not hindus but muslims..
Over 50000 Hindus dead in Kashmir.
Another 50000 Hindus dead all over India.
Attack on Indian Parliament..
Then 7/11/2007 in Mumbai..
Now 11/26/2008 again in Mumbai..
Will the USA stop India from invading Pakistan and getting rid of all Jehadi Terrorists ?
USA has no moral right to stop India now…
We all know Pakistan is clearly the Largest sponsor of terror…
I fail to understand why USA still supports Pakistan?
Just give the green signal and the brave Indian army will clean up all Jehadis and crazy terrorists from the world..
But unfortunately USA will not allow India to do anything..
Indian politicians will issue a statement that the Soul of Mumbai cannot be broken..
Indian army will sit like eununch because USA will not allow India to do anything on the Paki terror camps..
What a shame !!! USA stop interfering in Indian affairs and allow India to deal with this on their own…
Yeah, then we have a problem with curry people all over the world Sunny. Stop blaming USA
Not blaming USA..
Just saying USA should mind their own business. With one incident USA is free to attach Afghanishtan..
What about India’s right to attack Terrorists be it in any country?
And no India does not need USA to take care of Terrorists..
And Johmn US needs curry people not vice versa…
Don’t worry. With Barack Obama as President, he will attack Pakistan from the West, and if anything India can join in the from the East for a real party thats been waiting years, if not decades to happen.
Great update. However, dear Techcrunch readers do not forget about what bloggers are doing at GVO
That’s a picture of Big Foot.
Here’s a roundup of citizen journalism/ social media coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attacks: http://www.gaur...rorist-attacks/
Way to go plugging in your website for traffic to go to.. stop being so full of yourself dude..
Terrible news. Its really amazing that the news was all over the world within the hour of it happening via all channels. Bunch of my FB friend status pointed to it as well.
Love the shameless plug for Twitter.
What is interesting that no one here mentioned that most Indian TV stations have been broadcasting live on the web since 9:45pm IST Wednesday…
Bob: Both Twitter and TV stations have their own uses. But you can’t beat the massive real-time coverage from citizen journalists, while being given an opportunity to directly CONTACT people in these areas … and where do you think TV stations get news from? Citizens.
Citizen journalists in a terror situation? Scary. Very scary. And folks like Arrington would goad this to its extreme end. Sad.
Indian govt is asking TWITTER to stop searches on MUMBAI
source?
Just a request from my Indian friends. Please avoid yourself from posting hateful messages against any country whethar USA or Pakistan. this is much more complex than US allowing India to attack on Pakistan. Guys, please!
If you want to stop terrorism, all the people from Pakistan and related countries should be killed, then the world will live happily.
Yes that picture is of terrorist no doubt,this picture appeared in Times of India.This is really sad that terrorists are targeting major parts of Indian country.
Where are the first hand accounts? All I see is a bunch of tweets from people repeating what they heard….
This is scary and horrible. 100 people died and over 300 injured.
ooohhhh …. where is my nation going … I cant bear it … !!! I CANT BEAR IT !!!!
This is scary but i think its fantastic that the news is getting out way before the media can manipulate it. Every one will have different views of what went down, but i’ll take the word of a citizen than any media network.
Oh btw
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Why are you changing the topic?
Once again, Another wake up call for everyone…
Live update from Twitter about Mumbai attacks – Fast, breaking news and no need to refresh page.
http://ninhnv.c...m/breakingnews/
Terrorists should be killed and given a painful death
What is your point? Your posts are getting really sloppy with little to no substance. You want to get people’s attention send rich media.
Happy Holidays!
mate its his blog he’ll write whatever the hell he wants.
not happy with that? tough titties bitch.
what in the world is going on? Why innocent people are slaughtered in such an awful way.This is an act of pure evil my condeleces to the families of those innocent lives. My heart goes out to you.
mapule in SA
Wished they would have used Bambuser.com so we could have gotten some live fotage out
a real bad news for india
It’s not Twitter itself doing a good job it’s the people who are using it. Could just as well be another micro blogging service it just happens Twitter is the market leader. Also how can one ever expect solid facts coming from Twitter if it is ordinary people like you an me feeding Twitter with news?
Hostages who were rescued from being trapped in the hotels have said that the terrorists were asking for foreigners who held British/American passports…..they were definitely targeting foreign nationals…..
Other British guests described the moment their hotels were stormed. Alan Jones, a businessman from south Wales, was in a lift at the Oberoi Trident when a fellow occupant was shot. There were frantic scenes as he tried to pull the man back in to close the door.
Alex Chamberlain, who works for a sports website and was in the city on business, told Sky News he believed the gunmen were looking for British and American visitors.
“They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, ‘Don’t be a hero, don’t say you are British.’”
Jac many Indians have also been killed. Terrorism does not distinguishes amongst Indian, American and Britishers.
Other British guests described the moment their hotels were stormed. Alan Jones, a businessman from south Wales, was in a lift at the Oberoi Trident when a fellow occupant was shot. There were frantic scenes as he tried to pull the man back in to close the door.
Alex Chamberlain, who works for a sports website and was in the city on business, told Sky News he believed the gunmen were looking for British and American visitors.
“They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, ‘Don’t be a hero, don’t say you are British.’”
source : guardian.co.uk