Craigslist and NOLA.com: Information as News

Tonight on Radio Open Source:

The best reporting in the world -- no hyperbole, the best reporting in the world -- this week came from the web division of the New Orleans Times Picayune, nola.com. Information -- missing person reports, safe and alive person reports -- became news. And it became a source, even, for rescue teams, more accurate than anything else they had to go on. Craigslist, after Katrina, became a forum for finding the missing and housing the saved, and what you find on Craigslist are stories as compelling as anything on CNN. Maybe what communities want in a time of crisis is good information, and maybe detailed, accurate information makes the best story. Craig and Jeff helped invent two new ways of collecting and distributing information; Jon is perfecting it right now in the Crescent City.

Jon Donley

Editor, nola.com

Craig Newmark

Founder and Customer Service Representative, Craigslist Author, Craigblog

Jeff Jarvis

Author, Buzzmachine