the guardian today

A few things caught my eye in The Guardian today.

Firstly an interesting piece on CMS 'missionary' Mark Berry working in Telford. Definitely worth a read.

Secondly, in the Media Section (I think you need to register here to access this)there was a fascinating article about the use of new media in the aftermath of the London bombings. The headline on the front of the Media Section read "We are all reporters now", in reference to way in which ordinary people's photographs and video footage captured on mobile phones, have been used in the reporting of Thursday's events.

The article goes on to talk about the way blogs were used on Thursday, as people sought to find a place for "communal comfort" and to "debate the issues". I really felt this to be the case on Thursday - I spent a lot of time on the internet, reading blogs, talking on msn. As I shared my experiences of Thursday at church on Sunday, this was one of the things we tried to create space for. I was in no position to 'tell' people how to feel, rather we needed a time to talk, share and discuss, we needed to embrace and acknowledge peoples different feelings and reactions. At the end of the service a lady of advancing years came up to me and shared how she had felt on Thursday. She had just wanted to talk to people, to share her feelings with others. She, like me, like many of us, could not comprehend what was happening on Thursday, and needed simply to connect with others.

This reminded me of a point Andrew Jones made at the Re:source day in Birmingham, that new media helps us to read the emerging culture, people are longing to connect, to share feelings, voice opinions. Technology means there are now more ways to do this.