WRL: Blogging, Milblogging and the London bombings

(Dusty history section) on the London bombings, 2005.

I came across a couple of links on media coverage of the London bombings in July 2005 that I hadn’t previously discovered. Maybe you missed them too.

Mike Thelwall did some research into bloggers and the bombings which ‘scratches the surface’ of the use of blogs to cover a major news event:

Interestingly there was:

"…a fall in the percentage share of the top linked-to sites at the time of the attacks, perhaps reflecting a widening of the search for information rather than a sudden reliance on a few authoritative sources."

And we learn that:

"…in comparison to major media representations of the London attacks, blog posts give insights into contemporary discussions and can highlight issues, such as the alleged Iraq connection which may be forgotten or deliberately ignored in hindsight."

I also picked up this article from Media Guardian earlier in the year in which Sky News’ John Ryley claims that Sky’s coverage of the attacks influenced BBC policy on breaking news:

"BBC bosses have admitted that they rewrote their policy after handling of the attacks…News does not usually break cleanly. Big stories emerge in dribs and drabs, bits of information from many sources. Often conflicting and confusing … when a big story breaks we report new information, clearly attributed to its source, even if things turn out differently…It was precisely that policy that the BBC decided to adopt after the London bombings." 

US Army and Milblogging

US military bloggers were meeting up at Blog World Expo last week and I see there was a panel entitled, ‘Milblogs: Not your standard news source’, which I’ll have to find out some more about. But in the meantime, Public Affairs Officer, Lindy Kyzer, explains how relations have changed between milbloggers and US Army.

Bonus Afghanistan ‘section‘ (OK. It’s one link. But that’s enough for a section on this blog)

Excuse the in-house appreciation club but Frontline blogger, Alex Strick van Linschoten, and colleague Felix Kuehn, have a great piece up on Foreign Policy drawn from their experience of living in Kandahar. Well worth a read.