You are quite right. I remember reading the Columbia disaster live thread and how ahead of the curve FReepers were about what was happening. I was on FR as the Great White concert turned into a disaster and the thread had numerous comments from fire fighters who gave much better commentary than was available in the media. Then, of course, the legendary Rathergate story.
The worst was being here when the ‘04 Tsunami happened, with everybody knowing instantly what a horrible death toll we were looking at.
Other craziness was the daily tracking and searching for the DC Snipers. That was awful.