LiveUAMap
Live Universal Awareness Map (liveuamap.com) is an independent news and information website with a unique approach to presenting news. It is a mix of live map service and a news platform allowing its users to find news based on their geographic interest.
First of all, it updates all territorial changes in conflict areas such as Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine. For instance, the Liveuamap team kept track of every house in eastern Mosul as the Iraqi army recaptured it from ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and settled on the eastern coast of the Tigris. Moreover, a special feature allows us to access the chronological archive of the map. For example, users can watch the day by day expansion and decline of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant).
Furthermore, the concept of news is incorporated into the interactive map in the form of icons. By clicking on them, users can open stories and news alerts knowing their exact geographic location. Some of their news stories come with an attached video footage or live stream like the streaming of the offensive on Mosul. According to the website, the topics they
cover include: “conflicts, human rights issues, protests, terrorism, weapons deployment, health matters, natural disasters, and weather related stories, among others.”
The quality of news they present is surprisingly decent. Among their sources are both established news corporation and individual Twitter/Facebook users. When covering more controversial regions such as Ukraine, the team tries to be as objective as possible adding a fairly equal amount of sources from both sides of the argument. Also, the website operates based on private donations so the advertisers and sponsors cannot claim any patronage over the website. This, in turn, contributes to the objectivity of the site. Moreover, the company has a team of professionals reviewing the news and fact-checking every source before posting it. Finally, the website encourages users to report any untruthful or wrong information. Viewers can do so by sending an email to info@liveuamap.com.