Bombing Aftermath Shows How Internet Is Maturing As A Medium

In Oklahoma City, moments after the first FBI briefing about the bombing, I pulled out a laptop and logged on to one of the big three commercial services. In no time, a crowd of journalists gathered to see what information had made it on-line.

These were reporters from major television stations and newspapers, even the TV networks, all in the thick of the biggest news story going. Yet we felt compelled to make sure there was nothing on-line that we didn’t already know.

That moment, it became clear that the on-line world has crossed a huge threshold. It has become essential.

Apparently, millions of you felt the same way. Prodigy, America Online and CompuServe all reported huge spikes in users logging on. Out on the Internet, anything with information about the blast was inundated with users, sometimes slowing service to a crawl.

Since the Northridge, Calif., earthquake last year, people have talked about cyberspace assuming the role of a new medium. The commercial services have struggled to meet the challenge, most recently with election night coverage last November.

But the pieces finally fell into place April 19.

Studying how it worked shows how this new alternative to newspapers, television and radio will function.

For one thing, cyberspace will not be a traditional media outlet. You won’t log on to learn what Prodigy’s reporters have uncovered. America Online isn’t likely to do a six-part special on America’s militia.

Rather, the commercial services will draw reports, photos, video and related services from the media services they have on-line. The people putting all that on computer screens are editors, combining other media reports into a new format, a massive resource ready whenever you log on.

“I can deliver an archive to you within a few hours that if it were a newspaper you would need a wheelbarrow to pull it inside,” says Prodigy spokesman Brian Ek.

This disaster marked another first in cyberspace development. The Internet service providers based in Oklahoma City became information providers to the world - a local correspondent, if you will, for the Internet.

That ingredient has been missing on-line. Before this, the only local reports were people jumping into chat rooms and reporting what they saw on television. This time, however, AOL went a step further by having a chat room run by staff from NBC’s Oklahoma City affiliate.

While many of us were scrambling for a list of survivors, Internet Oklahoma had it posted for the world. Phone numbers of those wanting to help were constantly added. There was even a way for people to send prayers via electronic mail for inclusion at the memorial service led by the Rev. Billy Graham.

Internet Oklahoma provided the kind of immediacy cyberspace must offer in every big story. As the commercial services integrate that type of World Wide Web content, we’ll have a truly impressive new medium.

There are still issues that must be resolved. What will be the on-line equivalent of a news bulletin, or do users want to be alerted to breaking developments? And who will assume responsibility for the accuracy of the reports?

But those are issues every emerging medium has resolved in due time. For now, it’s nice just to see cyberspace claiming its place of importance.