I was one of many people to e-mail a photo to Joi Ito’s New Year’s Moblog page. There were glitches, as Joi notes here, but it was a cool experiment.
The major value in this format is its potential, not its current use. Example: I’d like to see news organizations set up sites like this one, and widely publicize the e-mail address. Then invite readers to submit their own postings of important events (and there would need to be a way to post explanatory captions along with photos and titles). You’d need a moderator to make sure the postings were not obscene or otherwise inappropriate.
The future of news is being invented as we speak. This is one way it will happen.