Just a quick thought – the prevailing opinion seems to be that average civilians would go out and report the news. This is problematic, as they don't have the legitimacy, access, and resources that a modernpress organization has.
What they can do is provide context (and not content). Note how quickly the various national "bridge databases" have been cited in the media – this most likely (although I can't prove it) came from some"bridge-nerd" (troll?) or transportation watchdog who synthesized their knowledge with breaking new events to deliver value, value that is outside of the expertise and resources of most journalists.
i agree with you and think it’s an interesting point. i work in a transportation library and have received a number of inquiries about these bridge-databases. i don’t feel as qualified as a “foamer” (that’s what we call transportation buffs) to quickly give an answer because we deal with too many topics.