I have just returned from an Anglia TV reception in Cambridge with the local great and the good where the 
company said they would loan out video cameras if anyone wanted to record an event, encouraging them to be citizen journalists.
I turned to Bob Pearson, Director of Communications at Cambridgeshire County Council, and described to him my vision for citizen news networking, which could be a vital lifeline to communities during an emergency, from floods and terrorist attacks, to major road accidents and even petrol shortages.
I would like to see a major organisation in each town or city, such as the local authority or leading newspaper, host a forum where people could interactively communicate and share news during a disaster. This would be used by all the emergency services as well to provide the latest updates.
Local people would be able to report their personal accounts, others would respond with theirs. Even if some people at the centre of a crisis were unable to access it personally, the chances are someone from their family would be able to and could pass on the latest news. The citizen news networking site would be well publicised so everybody knew of it, that it was their key website to turn to during an emergency.
Bob totally dismissed the idea, saying something like this was “years and years away” and asked: “What about Mabel from Manea?” So I asked him how was she going to get her news anyway and he said from her children. I tried to persuade him he could be the first in the country to do this, but my words fell on deaf ears. He simply could not visualise the benefits of a local authority run interactive forum for communities during an emergency.
Do you think in this digital day and age that such an idea is light years away? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if there was one local site used by all emergency services to provide the latest news bulletins and advice and where people could also interact?
Update: Well done to Cheltenham Borough Council for setting up a blog for flood victims. And well done to Dizzy for spotting it.
Excellent idea Ellee.
I think it’s an excellent idea too, Ellee – a local version of the kind of thing Sky does when there’s a disaster , inviting those involved to send in their footage, etc. [Whatever criticisms I have of Sky, and there are many, they do this well.] But a network like Sky can’t stay focussed on one event or area because they have so much else to cover.
I don’t think it is years and years away. We already regularly update each other through our blogs and even text messaging!
I guess if you are not using the social media, it’s totally unknown territory and you steer clear of it. But local authority communicators should understand its value today and what an asset it can be.
It sounds a great idea but I’ll relate a little story that happened to me locally a few months back.
There is a dangerous road near where I work which could easily be made safe by a little re-arrangement, so I wrote an email to the local council. Got back the usual “bog off” pro-forma response.
About six months later, the same stretch of road, just as I had predicted there was a collision between a cab and a bus. Nobody was seriously hurt.
I arrived after the injured had left the scene and as luck would have it I had my digital camera on my person so I took it out to get some shots to send to the council with the intention of a “told you so” missive.
Barely had I got started but a police woman starts hysterically screaming at me like I’m some sort of pervert who should show some sort of reverence for twisted metal because people got hurt there. She wouldn’t listen to anything I tried to say and the only solution was to get lost sharpish.
I’m sure I wouldn’t have got the same treatment if I had a press pass.
ooops Elle that was I
I must remember to check I’ve signed in, before I pop in and comment – lol!
Hi Ellee
I suspect that
On forums, most Councils already have forum facilities on their websites, but many have chosen not to use them as they are very difficult to manage without a lot of staff time (there could be a liability on the council for slander published by third parties etc.).
For disasters and emergencies, I think that the best way is for Councils to utilise external news sites such as the local BBC sites. That way staff can manage the disaster. That is probably what they do already.
â€?Years and years awayâ€? looks to me like “Please go away I am worried about a repeat of the 1998 floods tomorrow morning and don’t want to talk about it now”.
The technology has been there for some time, and if push came to shove they could set it up in 2 hours imho.