Armed With Right Cellphone, Anyone Can Be a Journalist

Got a cellphone camera? You, too, can be a television journalist. The news staff of WABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in New York, started soliciting cellphone pictures and amateur video last week from people who witness a news event. The New York Times reports.

"The requests are being made on air by the station's anchors and on its Web site, 7online.com.

"It allows our audience to be true eyewitnesses," said Kenny Plotnik, vice president and news director of WABC, who said he was riveted by cellphone photos from the London subway bombings and from areas hit by Hurricane Dennis.

WABC's requests for viewer submissions caution people not to endanger themselves to get a good shot and warn that their cellphone carrier may charge them for sending data. What's more, very large files might encounter transmission problems, Mr. Plotnik said.

Mr. Plotnik says the station will watch for hoaxes. "We will make news judgments on these pictures just as we make news judgments on our news coverage," he said.

"Eyewitnesses tend to see things differently from how they really occurred," he said. "They are sometimes really inarticulate about describing it, and even if they are articulate and have good vision, the best they can do is translate it into words."

WABC hopes that broadcasting images contributed by the public will give it an advantage over its competitors. It "is a way to have something nobody else will have," Mr. Thompson said.

News organizations have solicited news tips and encouraged viewer participation for years. But the new technology - widespread, cheap and easy to use - affords new possibilities."

... "Now, millions of people have the ability not only to tell you what they are seeing, but to show you," Mr. Lukasiewicz said. "It is transformational technology."

emily | 8:44 AM | Citizens as Camera Phone Reporters |
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