PiPress article about 35W citizen journalism

Cameras in hand, citizens take over
Witnesses to the I-35W bridge collapse post the news online
BY JULIO OJEDA-ZAPATA

Chuck Olsen, of Minneapolis, was about to depart for Chicago on Wednesday when he heard about the Interstate 35W bridge collapse - and rushed out with his high-definition camcorder to snag footage for the Web.

This is what Olsen, a top video blogger, does. But, to his surprise, he was among hundreds of onlookers using technology - from high-definition cameras on fancy tripods to pocketcams and cell phones - to capture the scene.

It was, he said, a seminal local moment in "citizen journalism," when ordinary people worked alongside big media outlets to document a major news event.