Article from the Columbia Journalism Review.

New” media platforms were critical to delivering early information about damage and relief efforts in the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake that rocked the western side of Haiti shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

“As phone lines went down and darkness fell over Haiti, the full impact of today’s massive earthquake was difficult to know,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported. “But as with many recent natural disasters and emergencies, the extent of the chaos in the impoverished Caribbean island emerged quickly online… As major news organisations published quotes from officials on what had happened, eyewitness accounts were being posted to Twitter.”