It seems we are all potential news-gatherers now. The recent London bomb tragedies saw mobile-phone footage aired on Sky News within moments of the first devices going off. BBC News received more than 50 images from the public within an hour of the first bomb blast, even while officials were still debating the cause. Within a day the BBC had received 1000 images and dozens of video clips, with similar numbers going to Sky News, and ITN. The footage went around the world via the relationships these broadcasters have with Reuters and APTN, and onto the world's networks. The event created a new term, that of 'citizen-journalist'. There have been plenty of other examples of people capturing disaster footage on their holiday video cameras, not least the Asian tsunami last winter. But images of the devastating London events were, by and large, captured on mobile phones. Two weeks later the four additional attempted bombings generated more footage, especially when suspects started being arrested. There was a remarkable live feed on Sky News, which luckily had a camera position looking at the flats but where the commentary came from a viewer with a mobile phone crouched on her balcony as the alleged bombers were made to strip and surrender. Those images, and the woman's commentary, were beamed live around the world. That night's evening news was full of more amateur footage of the event, providing rich extra detail to the day's news.
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