I am afraid it is no exaggeration to say that what we saw was a hellish scene. [source]

It has been a sobering experience to see reports of the Bangladesh cyclone – and to watch them flow through the Bangladesh River Journey site we built for BBC World Service. The project’s original aim was to expose the very real presence of climate change in Bangladesh – a low-lying land of myriad rivers – and the cyclone’s arrival seemed shockingly symbolic.

While news of the cyclone competed for airtime in the general media, the World Service maintained a stream of often very personal and touching accounts from the Bangladeshi people. Their Flickr photos and Twitter texts acted as informal media channels, adding an extra dimension to the more formal reporting on the World Service website and radio.

Social Media News

This year, the World Service are celebrating 75 years of global media broadcasting. They, and the BBC in general, are about to launch a major website redesign and there is a conscious effort to embrace new media techniques, such as microformats, APIs, social networking and open content.

What is the future for news reporting through social media? Is there greater or less authenticity in such reporting? Share your thoughts below…

Further Reading

• Technologies in the Bangladesh River Journey site
• Cyclone Sidr group on Facebook
• Oxfam cyclone group on Facebook
• United Bangladesh Appeal for cyclone donations
• ‘Uncultured Project’ visit to the disaster area
• Rezwan advises on helping victims
• East-west perspectives on climate change
• Helping cyclone victims from overseas

Tags: bangladeshboat, bbc, broadcasting, flickr, microformats, new media, open content, open data, social media, social networking, social networks, social web, twitter, worldservice