Poynter Article on Mobcasting and Journalism

Poynter Online columnist Chip Scanlan has published a story about mobcasting and its potential role as a tool for journalists, professional and otherwise. He describes mobcasting as "the digital equivalent of 'flooding the zone,' a sports term that competition-driven editors usurped to overwhelm a hot story with resources."

Some other quotes from the article:

Digital activist Andy Carvin, who came up with the idea, put it into practice last weekend at a conference of bloggers and mainstream journalists at Harvard when he and five others phoned in intermittent reports from the scene....

Listening to Carvin's reports from the Harvard conference, I found myself thinking back to the first government meetings I covered 30 years ago with pen and notebook. What would it have been like, for instance, to feed live reports on the zoning board's decisions without ever leaving my chair, or to transmit my interviews from news scenes without having to drive back to the newsroom and transcribe my notes?

Today's reporters -- and citizen journalists -- don't have to wonder.

Thanks to Chip for the nice write-up.... -andy