Can Citizen Journalism Help Identify the Dead in New Orleans?
I heard a report on NPR this morning about how bodies are being found, cared for, and catalogued in New Orleans, with the ultimate goal (of course) of identifying them. The admiral said they're capturing forensic and personal information for each corpse found.
The report immediately reminded me of an earlier posting about the extraoridnary work done by the Arizona Daily Star on its “Death on the Border” feature.
We've long believed that, at its core, citizen journalism is the "privatization" of public information. Those school-board minutes, who's responsible for the repair of that streetlight near the school crossing, how the zoning board voted, property records...the best micro-local coverage, now brought to you, professionaly, by outfits like Backfence and The Northwest Voice and YourHub and, yes, the Arizona Daily Star.
The success of these new voices has been based largely on their abilty to do a better job than most cash-strapped local governments at getting local information to local residents.
And now here's a chance for great journalism to give back to the community: It seems to make clear sense for FEMA and the Coast Guard to use the technology behind the Arizona Daily Star's "Death on the Border" to build a similar system for New Orleans. (This could also be a good example of what Jeff Jarvis has been calling "Recovery 2.0.")
We believe that it will greatly speed the identification process and even insurance claims. It could also help people rest more easily, if they don't find the name or identifying information about a missing friend or family member. And it harnesses the power and strength of the community in the best ways.
The report immediately reminded me of an earlier posting about the extraoridnary work done by the Arizona Daily Star on its “Death on the Border” feature.
We've long believed that, at its core, citizen journalism is the "privatization" of public information. Those school-board minutes, who's responsible for the repair of that streetlight near the school crossing, how the zoning board voted, property records...the best micro-local coverage, now brought to you, professionaly, by outfits like Backfence and The Northwest Voice and YourHub and, yes, the Arizona Daily Star.
The success of these new voices has been based largely on their abilty to do a better job than most cash-strapped local governments at getting local information to local residents.
And now here's a chance for great journalism to give back to the community: It seems to make clear sense for FEMA and the Coast Guard to use the technology behind the Arizona Daily Star's "Death on the Border" to build a similar system for New Orleans. (This could also be a good example of what Jeff Jarvis has been calling "Recovery 2.0.")
We believe that it will greatly speed the identification process and even insurance claims. It could also help people rest more easily, if they don't find the name or identifying information about a missing friend or family member. And it harnesses the power and strength of the community in the best ways.
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