Though the bombings of July 7, 2005 certainly weren't the first time that ordinary bystanders took it upon themselves to document the events unfolding around them, the event marked a turning point in the evolution of the "citizen journalist." Suddenly, news carriers realized that there was something to be said for the immediacy of those grainy camera-phone pictures.
"The chances that you, personally, having a cell phone, will come across some earth-shattering event are actually very small," said Kyle McRae, founder of Scoopt, which acts as an agent between citizen photojournalists and the press. When users upload their images or video clips to the website, the company--launched in 2005 and now owned by Getty--retains the right to market the material for a year. "You'll wait the rest of your life for a plane to fall out of the sky, and when it does, your battery will be flat and you'll miss it," McRae said.
Loading...