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Tweeters Behind Feeds Like DC REALTIME NEWS Make Every Shooting Known

Washington City Paper: “…While some social media spot news reporters such as Alan Henney have been around for more than a decade, several new ones, including DC REALTIME NEWS, MoCo PG News, CordellTraffic, and Killmoenews, have risen to prominence in recent years. Together they have more than 47,000 followers on Twitter. Some show their support with dollars—DC REALTIME NEWS and Killmoenews solicit Cash App contributions on their profiles. Derrick, who asked to be identified by his first name for safety reasons, is behind Killmoenews and is Calhoun’s childhood friend. He says fans send him $300 or more on normal days and up to $1,000 on the Fourth of July.   Local elected officials are taking notice. “It’s a transparency tool,” says Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. She says she uses information from these accounts to track public safety patterns and direct resources. What she reads lets her know when to visit incident sites. “It’s allowed me to respond quickly to scenes of crimes and get information. Sometimes when I get there, MPD is calling me saying, ‘We want to update you, there’s been a shooting.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I’m right here. I saw it on Killmoe or Alan Henney.” …

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