pic by flickr user JL1967

It has been a tough morning getting to work with a major fire burning a block or two from the office.

What’s been tougher is getting coverage. All the major news outlets have had the same stories up since this morning with partial details and small photos.

In searching for more up to date coverage the local blogs have been great.

If there is any doubt about how blogs will disrupt the traditional media here are some great examples.

Who is covering this story best?

Traditional media
CityTV
CTV
CBC

Blogs
BlogTO
Torontoist

Yesterday, Yahoo launched You Witness News, a site that allows users to upload photos and videos for use on Yahoo News and Reuters.

Both companies remain vague about their plans for this site. I suspect there is something brewing beyond publishing Joe_User’s photos on Yahoo News.

One of the mysteries is the benefit to the user. Right now, there isn’t any user generated content so it’s impossible to tell if there will be photo or video credits. What about monetary compensation? As other companies build out similar systems surely the dollar will play a role as to who gets “my scoop”.

I think the bigger story lurking here is around local content. Yahoo is going to be capturing great local content and will no doubt be leveraging it. I’ll be following this closely, as I’m sure many local TV and newspaper sites will as well.