“September 11 marked an important date in the history of how people got information when a major news event happened, In the wake of the attacks, more people increasingly sought – and shared – information on the Internet. Do-it-yourself journalism became more popular on the Web, while Americans helped cope with the crisis by posting their own reactions – and reading those of others – on both mainstream and non-mainstream media sites.’Four years later, there are even more sources [of information] and even more familiarity with the variety of sources that exist, and in that four-year time period, there has been an explosion of media production tools in the hands of people.”
— Rich Gordon, director of the new media program at Northwestern University‘s Medill School of Journalism.