Eye witnesses are vital in a breaking news situation and finding them fast, when the memories are still fresh, even more so. Social media by itself can tip you off to breaking news situations but finding the people who are actually there, rather than part of an impromptu round of chinese whispers, can prove difficult.
Over on his Web Journalist Blog, Robert Hernandez has put together a step-by-step guide for finding possible sources during breaking news situations by using Foursquare.
It's also worth checking out our previous tip on using another geolocation/social netowrking app, Banjo, for finding nearby sources.
Next time your racing to the scene of a story give it a try. Maybe let the photographer do the driving though.
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