No matter what their ethnicity of their position on the airstrikes, they are united in their fear for their safety. Their messages are showing up on dozens of Web sites dedicated to the crisis, including message boards and chatrooms sponsored by most of the world's leading news organizations. But then I was started getting news from a message board. Nikci said his relatives in Montenegro do not have access to the Internet. I think maybe Web sites and e-mails and chatrooms are like talking to your neighbor.
People take that nugget and look for confirmation from other sources.
Even though Global Beat only posts the reports of professional journalists known by its editors, their dispatches have the same raw immediacy that might be expressed by a friend or relative telling a compelling story. The Web gives you the ability to hook up to the Internet and look out the window and write down what's going on. It's not about laser-guided missiles. It's vivid and powerful and personal. And it's changing the dynamics of reporting.