From student WJV, Intro GIS
Only a few hours after terrorists struck Mumbai, India late this evening, The New York Times already has an annotated map of the attack locations up on on its web site. The interactive graphic presents a basic street map of the city, with small icons to designate the sites of the coordinated attacks. Rolling over a site presents a short description of the scene, and for some stories, links to some of the Times’ own photos.
Over at Google Maps, user generated content is piling up. Twitter is buzzing with news reports, and a few primary sources. Some people have tagged photos on flickr as well. Wikipedia also has a startlingly well updated page, along with a smaller, less updated map.
The Times’ web based GIS display has proved impressive in the past as well. Just last month, their live map of election results was one of the best on the web, carrying news stories about various polling places alongside live returns. And during the Summer Olympics, they built an interactive medal count map that grew as the games progressed. The success of these live GIS endeavors is just another example that, with the right software in place, news reporting can instantaneously take on an entirely new dimension. This helps those in need of quick information to stay safe and satisfies the curiosity of readers around the globe.