Public Radio Reporter Uses Live Chats to Cover Breaking News Posted by Al Tompkins at 12:01 AM on Dec. 21, 2009 The National Transportation Safety Board recently released a cache of documents from its investigation into why some Northwest airline pilots strayed 100 miles off course. If you had gone to Minnesota Public Radio’s News Cut Web site, you would have seen Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Collins pore over NTSB documents while chatting live with an online audience. Collins posted his comments in a chat via CoverItLive, a service that lets you interact online with readers who can comment or ask questions. Collins has used this technique before on breaking news stories. It is part crowd sourcing (using the general public to do research or other work) and part live coverage — but with a twist.