Source : TechNewsWorld.com

It was a lesson learned under horrible circumstances, but a lesson nonetheless. When four police officers were shot and killed in a coffee shop in Washington this week, local media mobilized to follow law enforcement as the suspect was tracked down. It wasn’t the first time social networking was used to supplement media coverage, but this time it made breakthroughs in substantial and useful ways.

It is one of the saddest, most shocking stories for a journalist to cover: the murder of a law enforcement official.

Four Lakewood, Wash., police officers were shot to death at a Tacoma-area coffee shop Sunday morning — apparently targeted just because they were cops — and a dangerous, armed suspect was sought in the Puget Sound region for nearly 48 hours. As in any large metropolitan area, Seattle’s media organizations ramped up their coverage, sent reporters everywhere, marshaled all their resources to tell this story in an accurate, timely fashion.

For what might have been the first time during a big local news story, social media became a major storytelling force. I’m not talking about this being the first time Twitter is used by a news organization to supplement coverage of breaking news (see Iran’s elections, the Miracle on the Hudson, etc.). The consensus from Seattle-based media watchers is that the microblogging social network may have broken through to add to a big story in a substantial and useful way. TechFlash executive editor John Cook did his usual thorough job writing about this on Monday, as the suspect was still on the loose. Read more ……