London Bombing Pictures Mark New Role for Camera Phones

Mostly what we've already read before, on how cameraphones and citizen reporters have redefined breaking news. What's interesting in that it comes from famous professional photographers' magazine, National Geographic.

"The images that defined the media coverage of the July 7 London terrorist bombings, which claimed more than 50 lives, came not from professional news crews but from everyday people.

Commuters caught in last week's attacks used camera phones to take images that were relayed across the world, providing hundreds of eyewitness pictures. It was a first for such a major breaking news story.

There are parallels with the news coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster last December, when amateur video footage captured waves triggered by a massive undersea earthquake. But media commentators say the London bombings mark a "tipping point" in the news-gathering process".

emily | 11:15 AM | Citizens as Camera Phone Reporters |
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