Roughly 2,000 members of the mainstream media are expected to converge upon Chicago this week for the NATO Summit. In addition, a group of people -- citizen journalists -- will be doing what they can to show their unique view of what's happening.
Those citizen journalists will be making use of video and Internet technology to provide what they say is an unfiltered look at the summit and its protests.
"Our presence will be to defend the marchers and show that the cause of revolution is not lost," reads a portion of one post on AnarchistNews.org.
Some citizen journalists -- livestreamers -- will be offering live views of protests as they happen, and they've made arrangements to not be shut down.
"We have worked out a lot of alternative streaming solutions because we have heard a lot about how they plan to shut down cell service during the NATO Summits," said Todd Freaman. "We actually have in place solutions so we can still get Internet connectivity in the area even without traditional services like cell phones."
Much of the Internet chatter so far appears to be non-violent but increasingly logistical in nature; protesters and citizen journalists communicating about how to find each other once they arrive in Chicago.
NBC Chicago will be keeping an eye on the Internet during the summit. We'll be using #NATORedZone on Twitter and Google+, and all of our coverage is being collected in a special NATO section on NBCChicago.com.
