There are somber images on Flickr from the plane crash that just happened in New York City. They’re more immediate and powerful than those even in The New York Times, simply because Flickr users were there at the time and the professional press got there somewhat later.
Interestingly, in the comments of another photo, Flickr users talk about how this is faster and just as good as the professional media.
The main problem is that it’s hard to find these images. Right now, there happen to be many under the tag “planecrash”, but in a few days, they’ll be scattered and lost.
I think there’s some value in having a photo editor who would scour photo sites like Flickr and encourage people to submit their photos to groups or setup specific tags for them.
Update: Another great news photo on Flickr. This one has become a discussion thread about the accident.