One thing that we didn’t have two years ago for these threads is Twitter. Twitter, for all its faults, is outstanding in terms of getting real eye-witness information on what’s going on.
It’s just a thought. Twitter threads are actively followed, and reports from those tweets are then forwarded pretty quickly. Turns regular joes into on-scene reporters. The Iran thing is just one instance of its effectiveness. You can Tweet from within quarantine areas, etc.