A pioneering example of citizen journalism, the notion that ordinary people can take part in the news-gathering process, was launched last week. Gawker, the New York gossip blog, put its Gawker Stalker feature into map form.

Gawker Stalker is a collection of sightings of celebrities around Manhattan that are reported via e-mail and instant messages by its zealous readers. Although Financial Times readers no doubt had their minds on higher, or at least more serious, things last week, they could thus have found out where Al Pacino and Keanu Reaves were.