Since 2004, when trouble in the news industry started to show, at least 800 community news Web sites have popped up, according to Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.

CNN: Future of online news may be 'hyperlocal'

Jeff Jarvis, director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York Journalism school, said in a phone interview that while he had not quite figured out what gives this confrontation such an odd feel, the aggressive, official use of social media made may be responsible.

FORBES: Israel and Hamas' Social Media Battle Goes from Groundbreaking to Bizarre