The hyper-local blog reporter

Yesterday, I spotted a headline in trade magazine Editor & Publisher about hyper-local reporting (registered subscribers only). Only hours later, here’s a dramatic case study to back it up. When a road bridge over the Mississippi in Minnesota collapsed last night, a blogger called Noah watched this human tragedy and engineering disaster happen. News reporting really has changed.

Update: Here are a few before-and-after pictures. The bridge was opened in 1967. The steel deck-truss bridge in the foreground of the first image, courtesy of Doug Rose @ Journal, is the one that collapsed.

Here’s a picture, courtesy of Texas Rainmaker (who has more coverage) that shows the structure better. The central span is 140m wide, and was designed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Power Line Blog has this picture, taken from the bank, which shows the bridge after its collapse:

There’s a slideshow of post-collapse images at the StarTribune, and another of amateur pictures over here.