When breaking news hits - and rarely does a story hit harder than the bombing in Oklahoma - the Internet can be your link to the latest news, and the most esoteric background materials.
Almost immediately, newspapers, radio and television stations around the country created sites with information about the bombing, the survivors, and the victims. A sampling:
Media organizations
The Edmond (Okla.) Evening Sun had just started a web site. Soon after the bombing, the paper posted letters to the editor and a photo album. http://www.icon.net/sun/index.html
KBIA Radio News (from University of Missouri) started a special report about the bombing containing audio files of Clinton's and Reno's statements. It offers a comprehensive list of other sources on the bombing and its aftermath. http://www.missouri.edu/-jschool/kbia/bombing/index.html
KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City posted pictures from the blast site, and has been keeping the community informed with food bank, and Red Cross services available for victims. http://www.ionet.net/koco/index.html
The Raleigh News & Observer has been constantly updating its Oklahoma City bombing report with photos and news stories. Its list of links is invaluable. http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nt/bbextra.html
Time Warner's Pathfinder service leads the pack of news magazines. http://www.pathfinder.com/
Government agencies
When it comes to covering what should be done in emergencies, several agencies offer useful information:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation web site describes the government's reward for information about the bombing. It is also the best site for background information on the continuing Unabomber attacks. http://naic.nasa.gov/fbi/
Also, the Oklahoma State Government Information Server for official state and local reports. http://www.oklaosf.state.ok.us/
(For more information on Internet sources for disaster coverage, including the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Emergency Preparedness Information eXchange see Nora Paul's Uplink article in the March 1995 edition.)
Stalking militia groups
When the suspect was caught, and his links to radical anti-government militias were discovered, finding background and information on the militia groups became research priority. Here's where the Internet could help:
Militia Groups by State: State listing of militia groups, with contact names, addresses, e-mail, and bbs numbers when available. http://www.io.com/user/sdragon/docs/dir3.1
The Stormfront White Nationalist Resource page includes various tracts (including comments on the Oklahoma City bombing, how the Bible fits with ideology, and works by David Duke), plus links to the Aryan News Agency and a list of like-minded radio shows, including those on AM, FM and shortwave. http://204.181.176.4/stormfront/
Patriot Web's Militia Files: This ftp site includes commentary, directories and profiles on prominent members like Linda Thompson. http://www.tezcat.com/patriot/Militia/
The ftp site (http://www.tezcat.com/patriot/) "Patriot" includes directories of files on topics such as Waco Weaver, Patriotic Justice journals, historical files, and a timeline of individual rights "violations" throughout American History. This site provides great (although, obviously, biased) background on the issues that militia groups feel they are dealing with. Another collection of links is at http://www.primenet.com/~lion/data01.html.
They Fight the Right lists groups that provide research about right-wing organizations, cults, and hate groups. It's compiled by Political Research Associates. There are some organizations which may be useful in locating background information on militias. This is a wonderful resource with contact information and other details. The Terrorism Handbook (which includes a recipe for ammonium nitrite fuel oil bombs) is often pulled from lists almost as soon as its posted. (It is, however, still available in the newsgroup zer.t-netz.pyrotechnik) http://www.qrd.org/qrd/.html/ftr/theyfigh.html
News Groups to keep an eye on: misc.activism.militia us.events.ok-explosion talk.politics.guns alt.politics.org.batf
Nora Paul is a former Miami Herald librarian now at the Poynter Institute. She is the author of Computer Assisted Research, available from the Poynter Institute and NICAR.