BBC taps reader reporters

BBC News continued its pioneering work tapping readers for information to help report stories online. After Syrian police clasehed with a team of bombers in Damascus Wednesday, Katja Riefler reported on E-Media Tidbits, the BBC published some basics online and asked readers to add more details: "Are you in the Damascus area? Did you witness the blasts? Send us your comments using the form below." The site then added five reader comments below the updated report, though as Riefler pointed out, the site doesn't disclose how much editing and fact checking was done by BBC News before publishing -- which it should. This is an excellent way for news sites to tap their huge readership to help gather more information from on the ground quickly. However, media outlets have been burned before by blindly trusting readers, so sites doing this should make sure to fact-check information before publishing.

Apr 29, 2004 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(0)

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