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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

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LA Fire Department's Web 2.0 Use Gets More National Attention

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Photo by jimw via Flickr

The Los Angeles Fire Department keeps on garnering national attention for their use of web 2.0 and social media technologies to communicate information to the public. Last month, it was Wired. This week it was a five-minute spot on National Public Radio's Day to Day:

LAist interviewed the LAFD's web ringleader, Brian Humphrey, last year and found how in depth this work can go. Since he began exploring the best ways to save lives through information sharing, he's earned his national attention through hard work and passion.

Humphrey is just one man and look at what he's done. LAist estimates that the City of Los Angeles has around 100 public information officers within its various offices and departments and while many of them are excellent at what they do, all of them combined do not equal Humphrey's ability to successfully communicate public information. Los Angeles needs more like him. Who is going to step up the plate next?

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

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