On January 15, 2009, I had just come back from a lunch meeting when I heard a huge splash while checking email and Twitter. I happened to see a few tweets from fellow New Yorkers mentioning that they had just seen a plane crash near my office on the West Side. I ran to the window and saw United 1549 landing on the Hudson. I grabbed my coat and phone, and ran to the scene.
I chased the plane downtown with the rest of the crowd, tweeting pictures and an account of the events while trying to call rescue. There were no cameras and no journalists -- just regular people trying to see if there was anything we could do while sharing our experience. Enter social journalism....
Via Jeff Domansky
The Hudson River air crash also signified an important leap in social journalism.