Distributed info gathering…serious mental wandering

One of the primary questions is how to enable an information provider’s information/content gatherers and also allow for unanticipated submissions (non-predictive, unforseen sources, etc.).  Staff personnel is relatively easy.  Outfit them with laptops, tablets, smart phones, PDAs, blackberries…we all know the current and growing list of mobile suspects.  Pick a standard blogging platform, establish blogs, throw down some free software at the content level like iGoogle or (better yet in my opinion) Freereader and you have now connected every reporter into one electronic console in the newsroom.  What about those unanticipated sources like the average citizen, the bystander, the witness, etc.  If it’s not true now, it is just a matter of time, but the average person has some form of communication device with them, albeit sometimes as simple as a cell phone.  Voice, SMS, email, blogs, etc. are all potential inroads to capitalizing on the community of citizen journalists.     Okay, so this didn’t go far.  Keep in mind that what I am imagining is a vastly different model from the current flow of almost exclusively reporter initiated content.  Think on that for awhile.