Why Chareidi Media Need Web Presence

I picked up the following from Marketwatch.com, but could have just as easily illustrated my point from any one of a number of blogs providing important info and news about the situation in New Orleans. Bolding mine.

New Orleans media tell story online
By Frank Barnako, MarketWatchLast Update: 10:53 AM ET Aug 31, 2005
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The mainstream media in New Orleans are using new media to report the horror in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Owning a printing press or a broadcasting tower was useless, Jeff Jarvis told The New York Times. "The Web proved to be a better media in a case like this." He is the former president of Advance.net which manages the Web sites of the Newhouse chain of newspapers.
One of those papers and New Orleans' largest, the Times-Picayune, has used the Internet to report the story. Its NOLA.com Web site has been the focus. Unable to publish on paper, PDF files of daily editions have been posted. Wednesday's front page headline was, "UNDERWATER." Read it here. Yesterday's headline was "CATASTROPHE".
NOLA.com is being run from computers in a data center in New Jersey, Jarvis said. The site features stories and photos from the newspaper's reporters and readers, as well as a resource guide for emergency services, and postings about missing persons and lost and found items.
Belo Corp.'s (BLC) TV station in the Big Easy, WWL, has been streaming broadcast coverage over the Internet, using a tower and transmitter outside New Orleans. Wednesday morning, one of the anchors said streaming over the Internet was a way to alert people around the world to the tragedy and encourages relief donations and volunteer efforts.
The station's Web site delivered about 6 million page views on Monday, roughly 25 times the average day, according to LostRemote.com. "Tens of thousands" of people were also watching the live stream, a Belo spokesman said. The station also launched a Web log. Watch WWL-TV. Read the WWL blog.
The Internet's role in telling Katrina's story has made it more important than cable television, according to Rafat Ali, publisher of PaidContent.org. "More people are watching online than on TV," he wrote. Fox, CNN and MSNBC had about 7 million viewers on Sunday, Ali said, while CNN.com reported it, alone, had 10 million visitors. MSNBC.com said it served more than 3.5 million videos Monday.
Meanwhile, a group of Web loggers is organizing Blog for Relief Day, "A day of blogging focused on raising awareness of and funds for efforts to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina," said Hugh Hewitt, publisher of the "Truth Laid Bear" Web log. His site listed almost four dozen blogs which have begun soliciting funds for relief organizations.


In my humble opinion, not being on the net may be not making basic hishtadlus.