Monday, there were some small homemade bombs left downtown on the parking garage. The local paper and TV stations were on the scene. Many stuck in offices wanted to know what was going on. Who had the the quickest online coverage of the event?
Well, the Lakeland Police Department Twitter feed announced the bombs had been found. After that, the best place to get the news was neither the paper nor any of the stations. You needed to follow @aaronjbates on Twitter.com.
Get used to following local residents on Twitter. As the media loses resources, we’re going to find neighbors reporting the news.
Bates has a pair of posts describing the day from his vantage point downtown:
“The real story is how bad |SLOW| the news coverage was on this and how easy it was for me to convey what I was seeing and hearing to my Twitter followers” — Lakeland Bomb Threat Diffused | Part 1 and Lakeland Bomb Threat Diffused | Part 2
Bio: The short line? Father, husband, writer. My online presence is primarily through as the editor, writer, and occasional photographer for the news sites, Lakeland Local, a sampling of the news, concerns, and events for Lakeland, Florida, and Metro i4 News, which covers the Interstate 4 corridor in Central Florida. Both sites feature the work of myself and other contributors. As a hobby, I manage a forum and some web sites that feature a pulp fiction series written by Lester Dent -- Doc Savage Organized, Doc Savage Info, and Flearun.
Mike
1 year ago
I don’t have a comment on the bomb story, but what was the deal with that smell this morning?
It smelled like someone was burning leaves 5 feet away from me, but it was all over Lakeland. I noticed it really bad just north of I4 (near my home), but I also could smell it in downtown Lakeland.
Any ideas on what it was?
Chuck Welch
1 year ago
Brush fires. I think at least 30 acres before they put it out. Somewhere around Moore Road and Old Polk City Road.
Billy
1 year ago
Aaron = Stud