Tragedy news travels faster via crowdsourcing

The smoke has barely cleared on the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech University today, but already the Web, social networking and wireless technology have proven themselves, yet again, as game-changers in the world of reporting. Here are a few examples of how tech has played a role in the emerging coverage of the shooting:

Mobile video — with this event on a campus full of wired 18-24 year olds, it’s no surprise that many students captured photos and mobile video of the event as it unfolded. Perhaps the best example of this is CNN’s use of a video from VT student Jamal Albarghouti, who might be remembered as the Abraham Zapruder of the VT shooting incident, after he captured a dramatic shootout between police and the gunman (gunmen?) outside Norris Hall, where many of the student fatalaties occurred. His camera of choice? A Nokia E70 Cellphone with built in video camera.

Social networking: Student-centered social networks have already figured in coverage of the shooting, with CNN, among others, citing discussions on Facebook.com that include notes from Virginia Tech students and others with knowledge of the event. In fact, those dicussions are a bit ahead of the national media with many contributors linking to TV and other reports about the individual believed to be responsible for the shootings, who he may have been (reports say an asian male, college age), what his motives where, and so on. Most of these reports are bunk, but some are true and, in true crowdsourcing style, the good stuff floats to the top.

E-mail and text messaging: Not only are e-mail and text messages connecting students on a locked down VT campus, but how to and how not to reach wired students is sure to be one of the big stories to come out of the VT shooting — especially concerning VT’s decision to keep its campus open after two people were found murdered in a dorm early in the day, then to notify students via e-mail after the decision to lock down campus was made later in the morning. No less a person than Mr. Albarghouti said that he hadn’t had time to check his e-mail before heading out to morning class, and hadn’t received the bulletin to students about the violence on campus. Countless other students interviewed on camera said they were unaware of what was unfolding on campus. As the Washington Post reported last month, today’s students can be deceptively hard to reach, despite their fondness for cell phones, IM, texting and other communications gear.

In an ominous comment that now sounds prophetic, Gwendolyn Dungy of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators observed in the Post article that “everyone is hoping there’s not some emergency where they can’t get in touch with students.”

In fact, that same article notes that administrators at Virginia Tech were left scrambling to warn tens of thousands of people to stay inside after an escaped prisoner shot a guard on campus earlier in the year.

“That was a very clear indicator that the ways that we reach students are changing, that we have to stay ahead of the curve,” VT spokesman Mark Owczarski was quoted saying then.

As contributors on Facebook were quick to point out, SMS based alert systems would have been a far better way to reach students than e-mail, which most cell phone users don’t get.