Citizen Journalism examples - Rye

Eliot Higgins, a man with no formal journalistic training and no prior background in media decided from his flat in Leister that he had to act upon the Ukraine conflict. He took to the internet and blogged under 'nom de plume' and became an expert in Syrian weaponry and terrorist activities by studying youtube videos and connecting himself with other self-made experts. He was able to access the open database showing pictures, videos and eye witness reports by local residents depicting vehicles, blast craters and burn marks. He was able to identify and thus prove that Russia had been firing missiles from within it's own borders despite officials denying any involvement. He sent his research to CJ Chivers a writer of the New York Times who helped confirm that the Syrian government was also using banned weapons.