Reuters and Yahoo! Enlist Camera Phones

eldavojohn writes "In a huge advancement of citizen journalism, Reuters and Yahoo! are asking average people to be journalists with their cell phones. I hope participants don't run the risks others have for photographing the police. You can expect to see these new photos being used at Yahoo! and Reuters.com starting tomorrow." From the article: "'People don't say, "I want to see user-generated content,"' said Lloyd Braun, who runs Yahoo's media group. 'They want to see Michael Richards in the club. If that happens to be from a cellphone, they are happy with a cellphone. If it's from a professional photographer, they are happy for that, too.' Users will not be paid for images displayed on the Yahoo and Reuters sites. But people whose photos or videos are selected for distribution to Reuters clients will receive a payment."

Comments

The BBC have been doing this for a while.

[LiquidCoooled]

The BBC have been requesting user captured media since (I think) the July 7th bombings in London.


If you capture an unfolding event on camera or mobile phone, either as a photograph or video, then please send it to BBC News.

You can send pictures or video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or via mms by dialling +44 (0)7725 100100.

Please do not endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.


That disclaimer is very important, the BBC does not want CNN reporters sending tapes from 2000 foot skydiving through a twister.
They also have a policy in place to pay people for certain images.

not the first

[User 956]

In a huge advancement of citizen journalism, Reuters and Yahoo! are asking average people to be journalists

I see they're taking FOX News' lead then. FOX has been asking average people to be journalists for years.

Fake Photos

[mordors9]

I was getting ready to write a post on the dangers of fake pics and that I hoped there were safeguards in place to prevent this... but hey, I suddenly remembered that mainstream journalists have been doing this for awhile now, so no worries. Falsify away.

ignorant corporate hacks

[drDugan]

My readon this: For the most part, people won't be paid for their effort, and when they are, Reuters will decide if, when, and how much.

So if the for-profit company that takes money from your effort is not paying people, why would ANYONE send them juicy information, the best and most timely photos? (Other than corporate spin and marketing...) These suits do not understand human motivation at all. While many community/corporate models do work well - they work when the people who contribute significantly get something significant back for their participation in the community.

Stop letting your creativity be yoked by the merchants.

The only possible reason for people to upload is an individul's desire for the story/photo to get out - which puts even more bias on the distorted, biased coporate news process. Now everyone is "fighting" for what news is real - in an arena where people will always lose to the larger corporate profit motive.

Why wouldn't you send it to groups like Indymedia or other groups, collectives and nonprofits that have ideals more in line with the interests of individuals? Why wouldn't you post it to your own flickr account, craigslist, or make a blog post about it yourself? All these tools are available to anyone who can get the API working to upload it to Reuters, and work more in the individual's interest.

We no longer need merchants to control creative expression.

CNN launched a 'thing' like this too a while back (iReport, video)and it was laughed off the airwaves. They wanted you to "be the reporter!" and not pay you for your effort - while the whole time they make money off the ads your reports support. If people have a great story - post the video online with a site that allows you to share revenue from traffic, and includes real rewards for creating the content to those people who really create it.

Re:ignorant corporate hacks

[jfengel]

I dunno, but people contribute to Wikipedia and various open-source projects all the time, for which they don't get paid. Sometimes people (like RedHat) even make money re-selling your work. Heck, right here at Slashdot, the guys selling ads are profiting from your opinion expressed above.

It's a sense of community, I think. People put forth relatively small amounts of effort and get back rich content from the sum. The whole may be no more than the sum of the parts, but the sum is a lot more valuable to you than your part.

Re:ignorant corporate hacks

[Lord_Dweomer]

Last I checked Wikipedia was not a for-profit company. These guys are just trying to milk the mainstream for free labor and they know it. People who can break quality stories are often people who know the value of those stories. If I called Reuters or Yahoo to give them an exclusive story for something new and hot and they asked me to submit it for free with this new service I'd laugh at them and tell them I'll see what amount their competitors will offer me and how it probably won't have to be much to beat their offer of nothing.

Re:ignorant corporate hacks

[Esteanil]

A lot of people will be doing this. Why?
Bragging rights.

"My photo was on [big news agency] - Just look here!"

What Controls Against Staging/Faking?

[Cr0w T. Trollbot]

Citizen Journalism is a Good Thing, but given Reuter's recent and well-publicized problems with staged photos and fraud with their own stringers (not to mention the recent allegations against AP over "fake" atrocities reported by dubious or non-existent sources), what controls is Reuters going to put in place to ensure they aren't taken in again? How can we know that a picture of, say, Barak Obama flipping someone the bird, or Israeli soliders shooting a civilian, wasn't faked by a partisan with an axe to grind?

Given the numerous problems Reuters has had with its own Middle East reporting, what controls are they going to put in place to ensure that these Citizen Journalists aren't feeding them fake pictures?

Crow T. Trollbot