I agree with James’s view that this New York Times’ blog is doing an excellent job of keeping one up-to-date on the turmoil in Iran. I’d also recommend Andrew Sullivan’s site. What happens next is, frankly, anyone’s guess. But something is happening and the situation is so fluid that it’s difficult for newspapers to keep up. That is, the internet and technology – Youtube, Twitter, blogs etc – is transforming the way we follow breaking news and permitting one to have a better, if still necessarily imperfect, understanding of what may or many not be going on.
It’s sometimes said that the internet rewards certainty at the expense of nuance or curiosity; rumour at the expense of fact. And there’s something in that. But not always: in this instance, for example, the web helps one get an understanding of the complexity and fluidity of what’s happening in Iran. That is, the web can deal with uncertainty – the prevailing sense in Iran, I think – in a way that is problematic for traditional media outlets.
Consider this analysis by Bill Keller (editor of the NYT) and Michael Slackman.
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