Watching the American networks over the weekend, you’d never know anything was going on in Gaza, the Ukraine or anywhere else beyond a few square hectares in Washington, DC. Canadian outlets also marshaled some extra resources southward to witness the swearing in of Barack Obama. Canadian Media Offers Blanket Coverage of Obama Inauguration, posted on Mediacaster, Canada’s broadband industry website, offers a detailed rundown of how Canada’s news outlets planned for the event, with most opting for the combined reporting power of professional and citizen journalists.

On the social media front, the inauguration seems to be where Twitter came of age. You can check out the buzz at the Twitter live inauguration feed. PC World’s article ‘Be There Without Being There’ offers a menu of the main YouTube, Flickr and Facebook inauguration hubs, as well as a backgrounder on new technologies and partnerships fueling mainstream coverage. “You still can’t beat good old TV for pure visual quality,” PC World’s Mark Sullivan notes.

Meanwhile College Media Matters reports on a bus load of 10 San Jose journalism students who set out from Memphis to follow the civil rights route to the inauguration, reporting for campus and mainstream outlets on the way. Journalism professor Michael Cheers organized the field trip, a journey guaranteed to open students’ eyes to a history that predates YouTube.

(US Senate Office of Barack Obama photo)