Here's how citizen journalism can a) subvert hierarchical authority, b) inform the reporting of mainstream media, and ultimately c) provide better information to more people.

We've written before of the work of Sanjana Hattotuwa of Groundviews, a citizen news agency operating in Sri Lanka, one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom. Groundviews allows Sri Lankans a secure platform to report and discuss what they see around them, free from censorship.

Last Friday, August 14, torrential rains flooded large portions of Menik Camp, home to an estimated quarter-million people displaced in northeast Sri Lanka by the decades-long war between the nation's government and the Tamil Tigers. How did we know this? Because "Vidura" described the flooding on Twitter. Vidura and other witnesses texted dispatches to Groundviews, which posted a report and then photos from the camp on its blog.

Some (but not all) of Sri Lanka's Sunday newspapers picked up the story, as did The New York Times and, this morning, the BBC — both citing Groundviews' reporting.

All of that from a place where no journalists are allowed.

What's also remarkable is the exchange of opinion that has followed each post on Menik at Groundviews — a robust, passionate, not always polite exchange of views from both sides of the political fence. In Sri Lanka, that alone qualifies as something of a miracle.