It is dawn in Tehran and fires still rage throughout the streets only days after a controversial election came and went. With a nation-wide strike planned, today may be the defining moment in an incredibly important time in Iran's history.
This is how the news will reach American shores and your computer:
Twitter has emerged as the most heavily used outlet of information by Iranians. Despite government efforts to block usage, Iranians have outwitted the Islamic Republic (using mostly proxy IPs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_IP) and denial-of-service attacks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack) and have managed to keep a loud voice, much to the relief of many in the international community. On Twitter, #iranelection had about 81 updates per second this evening - at about 3 a.m. Tehran time. As the day progresses, more and more information will come through.
However, it is impossible to sort through everything on Twitter. And, as with the site normally, much is of it just an echo chamber. However, there are apparently Iranian government employees perusing #iranelection, looking for those citizens on the ground who would defy the law and report ongoing events. This makes the endless and nearly impossible stream of information good - we, the people of the world, can work it out and sift through the tweets for good information. The Iranian government will have a much harder time as more and more tweets pile on top of each other.
Live blogging has played an enormous role in analyzing and reporting the events. Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/) has been one of the premiere sources of information including stunning videos and pictures for the international community. The Huffington Post's Nico Pitney (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html) has been running his thorough and excellent live blog for quite some time. The New York Times (specifically The Lede blog: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/mondays-updates-on-irans-disputed-election/) has been one of, if not the best source of information out of the "old media."
Cable television, on the other hand, has been awful. CNN incurred the considerable wrath of the netizens for not reporting enough earlier in the protests and have since increased time given to the situation - now, instead of nothing, it is all late and in soundbyte form. The same - late and short - can be said of Fox and MSNBC.
However, they do have some excellent reporters on the ground: Christina Amanpour, in particular, has been impressive in her coverage. Keep an eye out for her if, for whatever reason, your television is tuned into CNN.
CNN.com outshines its television counterpart brightly and should be a constant stop for those looking for steady updates. Amanpour, for instance, is easy to find on the Web site and relatively rare on the television.
British media (BBC) has been providing a lot of quality reporting. It seems as though they have more reporters on the ground and that they are doing closer, riskier work. While some reporters are being arrested (at least one German journalist has gone completely missing), they remain steadfast in their supply of video - admittedly, they are more cautious and careful. Many of their videos have made their way to the internet including a report on Iranian government militia opening fire with live rounds on a crowd throwing stones and apparently killing at least one civilian.
We are, in fact, spoiled for information. It is not easy to sift through. With that in mind, Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic (http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/06/follow_the_developments_in_iran_like_a_cia_analyst.php) has a great article offering advice on how to follow the shocking events in Iran while not falling prey to misinformation.
There is also a Web site that shows which Iranians are updating their Twitter accounts most recently: http://www.h3x.no/2009/06/14/iranians-on-twitter-during-the-june-clashes/.
If you are itching to help and wish to do more than angrily Tweet away the night, you can set up a proxy for Iranian citizens to use (http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-for-iran-citizens-for-windows/). A proxy provides an outlet (however impermanent) for Iranian citizens to report on the happenings - and their voice, projected across the world with modern technology, is their strongest lifeline to progress.
Good luck.
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