My first day back in the office since the tsunami struck and the full extent of the logistical effort we've mobilised to cover the catastrophe has become clear.

News teams have fanned out across thousands of miles of Asian coastline -- in Phuket, Medan, Banda Aceh, Galle, Tamil Nadu, the Maldives, the Andaman Islands and elsewhere.

Many are enduring conditions almost as bad as those affected by the quake -- the main difference being, of course, that for western journalists the squalor and discomfort is only temporary.

The Wall Street Journal looks at how the tsunami has further blurred the boundaries between professionally-gathered and amateur news footage.

The Independent, meanwhile, reports on how the two main wire services, AP and Reuters, went head-to-head covering the story.

An early Reuters report, filed at 04:50 on Boxing Day, seems almost pitifully optimistic in retrospect. It reads:
Ten killed after tsunami hits Sri Lanka
COLOMBO Dec 26 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed after a tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean struck the southern and eastern tourist region of Sri Lanka on Sunday, police said.

The death toll in Sri Lanka currently stands at more than 30,000.