Monday, April 15, 2013

Post #7: Explosions in Boston





Earlier today, there was a terrorist bombing attack in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Marathon. Reports say two of the bombs exploded as runners were crossing the finish line, while a third bomb exploded at the JFK library. It was indeed declared a terrorist attack after the second and third bombs went off in different locations. President Obama declared that he was driven to find who was responsible and "hold them accountable." It is unsure if this was an attack by domestic or foreign citizens.

A map displaying the location of the bombings.

With the heap of issues occurring in the U.S. right now, there could not have been worse timing for such an event. The U.S. is seeing its worst debt crisis ever, the war in the Middle East is attempting to be shut down...the list goes on. Also with the recent threats from North Korea, people are becoming quick to suspect them as a culprit. Nothing is quite certain about the event, but what is clear is that – in the peak of the media era – this event could be very influential with the media.

In fact, the media influence has already started. Multiple trends on Twitter today were about the event. A plethora of news sites have started live feeds on the story (similar to the Newtown shooting). But the most significant media innovation that has resulted from this event is Google's Person Finder. Google has used the service before, but only once: for the Haiti earthquake in 2010. The service allows for users to look for someone or give information about someone.

With all of the media revolving around the event today, this could possibly become a milestone in the media world. With such a significant amount of information on the internet, using and enabling media in this investigation would be smart for the FBI. The media has a lot of influence on such an event like this.

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