Street journalism finds its feet

A photograph taken by one of Demotix London users of the Burmese Monks protesting in London in October 2007. Andy Heath, Demotix commissioning editor felt that the photo summed up what Demotix was about. Photograph: Demotix.

Citizen journalists have been given a voice, and a platform, by the London based website Demotix. Demotix provides a space of people to upload stories, news and photographs. Demotix was started by journalist Turi Munthe. “Demotix is premised on the fact that there was a growing void in reporting, created by the drive of aggregation, particularly in foreign news,” explained Turi. Demotix gives citizen journalists, or ‘street journalists’ as Turi calls them, control over the news agenda, and the ability to publish the stories that matter to them. “Demotix’s news structure is bottom up rather than top down,” said Andy Heath, Demotix’s commissioning editor, “There is no news agenda: the content is driven by the users.”

User generated content (UGC) often appears as a bit of an add-on with the major news organisations, but at Demotix it drives the news. Demotix have developed a relationship with a number of news organisations who use Demotix as an agency to hook up with journalists in different parts of the world. “Sometime they [news organisations] call up asking for a citizen journalist take on a story, or they want a particularly story covered and they don’t want to pay one of their journalists to get out there,” said Andy. The Daily Telegraph recently signed a contract with Demotix to include a widget on their foreign news page displaying the best Demotix photography.

Justin Williams, Assistant Editor of The Daily Telegraph, said: "The Daily Telegraph was the first UK media organisation to spot the immense potential of Demotix and its global network of correspondents and we're looking forward to continuing the partnership as this innovative project continues to grow in size and influence." Demotix’s contributors are about a third amateurs with point and shoot cameras, a third enthusiasts and a third freelance journalists.

Demotix, in addition to presenting the content online, sells the best photographs and stories to the mainstream media. Since January 2009, Demotix has sold 340 photographs to the mainstream media, and got the photographer paid. Turi sees street journalism as working in symmetry with the mainstream media: “The mainstream media have the reputation,” said Turi, “But citizens have the advantage when it comes to reporting on surpriseevents like bombings, and find it easier to work in parts of the world which have strict censorship laws.”

London has an active team of about 30 street journalists, and hundreds of other more sporadic contributors. Demotix has over 5000 contributors across the world, who work together to moderate the content on the site. “We reject about one in five stories,” said Andy, “This is generally because they are not news worthy. But that number is declining because the sense of community is improving the quality. People leave each other comments with advice and tips.”

Some people are sceptical of citizen journalism’s position within the news industry. Henry Peirse, founder of GRN an online agency for freelance journalists. GNR provides copy and experienced on the ground journalists to news broadcasters, working as the middle man between the two. Henry’s work is based on the fact that quality news from trained journalists will always be in demand. “Citizen journalism is all well and good,” said Henry, “But they don’t know how to structure a news story. In the long run quality will win out.”
In an interview with the Huffington Post Helen Thomas, the American journalist and former White House bureau chief for United PressInternational (UPI), described citizen journalism as dangerous and irresponsible: “I do think it is kind of sad when everybody who owns a laptop thinks they’re a journalist and doesn’t understand the ethics,” she said.