Comments on: Montreal North riot OMG BBQ

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:34:33 +0000

Re: anglo coverage
I tuned into CJAD and they had a reporter on the scene all night describing play-by-play of what was going on, like the propane tanks on fire and the smashing and looting of stores and the riot police arriving - pretty hairy stuff.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:59:40 +0000

Mainstream journalists are PAID to get up at midnight and rush to the scene of a story. They have the support and resources to rush somewhere in the middle of the night and get the story No one is paying a blogger to be on top of every breaking new story. Unless they happen to live in the neighbourhood, they aren't gonna be there.

By: DAVE ID

DAVE ID — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:40:28 +0000

Boily's pictures are amazing.

As for your lofty expectations of citizen journalism, come the f on. Get real dude. The web 2.0 concept hasn't taken root in Quebec. Most bloggers there blog about this and that, but not many are "involved" so your criticism falls short. The real grassroots citizen journalism goes on in the US and then some.

The simple concept of participatory community is foreign in Québec (other than Facebook). Except for the grasping-at-straws-nerds its just not happening. Leechers more than seeders. Most techies I worked with in Qc didn't even understand the concept of a Blog, much less citizen journalism, and they are techies.

By: princess iveylocks

princess iveylocks — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:09:40 +0000

Would you care to speculate on the implications of that last sentence? I have a few thoughts... 1) Citizen journalists are less-informed than media hounds (see: lack of police scanners, source tiplines, etc.) Rebuttal: anyone in the neighbourhood could function as a citizen journalist, word-of-mouth travels pretty darn fast 2) Citizen journalists know better than to mess with (literal) fire. Reporting on planned, controlled protests is safer than running into crowds of angry destructive youths. Rebuttal: some people get their kicks from taunting the angries with obnoxious camera flashes. You can't lump 'em all as peaceniks. 3) Citizen journalists protest the MSM's emphasis on crime by posting kittiefest pictures instead and peacefully debating Kant in the comments thread. Rebuttal: this might be it, actually But I'm more interested in what you think!