Sept. 1: Blog For Relief Day

The blogosphere continues to report news of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath today, and bloggers are mobilizing to help fill the information gap and help the massive cleanup that will be required. It's reminiscent of the blogger involvement in the 2004 tsunami coverage and relief effort. Instanpundit provides a list of relief/charity organizations. The Truth Laid Bear is helping coordinate the designation of Thursday (9/1) as Blog for Relief Day, "a day of blogging focused on raising awareness of and funds for relief efforts to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina."

Blogging as close to the scene as possible
Where reporters can't get to, where electricity has failed, or where cell phones have died, bloggers have taken up reins. Among today's top blogs are a handful of newcomers who are providing as much information about Katrina's devastation as possible. They include The Irish Trojan's blog by Brendan Loy, who's blogging from South Bend, Ind., of all places. Others include Metroblogging New Orleans, a blog from the Biloxi Sun Herald and California Yankee blogger.

Top hurricane news sources
A separate BlogPulse analysis of the news sources cited most frequently by bloggers shows that CNN.com leads the list, followed by Yahoo! News, MSNBC, the Washington Post, BBC News, the New York Times, Fox News, USATODAY.com, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Nation. Other news sources breaking into the national spotlight include the Everything New Orleans web site of the New Orleans Times Picayune and the previously mentioned Biloxi Sun Herald.

The entire disaster is producing what A Small Victory calls tireless blogging work."