Citizen Reporters of Mumbai - Unsung Heros

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They are now being called citizen reporters, the technolgically savvy, odinary citizens who go on the internet and start getting information out of disaster areas before the international press even gets on the scene. Sometimes they are ahead of the police and the army. Judging by some of the early reports from Mumbai, the citizen reporters there put themselves at some risk. A few years ago a friend of mine had a daughter studying in Japan who was caught in an earthquake. Before the emabassy in Washington or the consul in Philadelphia got back to her, people on the internet from just outside the earthquake area were able to tell her that her daughter was safe but just could not get word to her. My friend was so happy she cried. All stories do not end so well as my friend's did but for family and friends around the world, not knowing what is happening is the worst hell imaginable and these citizen reporters are unsung heros. They give their time without pay and sometimes even risk their own safety to get word out of disaster areas. This selfless conveying of information is the internet at it's very best! Has anyone on Mylot ever gotten information about a loved one's safety from a citizen reporter before they got the official word?