Citizen journalism - have your say

Various NUJ branches and the New Media council have been discussing the impact of citizen journalism on the industry. It's a very broad and complicated area, and there is also considerable misunderstanding about citizen journalism involves and how news organisations use this material in practice.

Donnacha DeLong, the New Media Council's rep on the NEC, has composed this excellent draft motion that we can use for a branch discussion. As we have the branch dinner next week and annual meeting in October, the November meeting would be the mext suitable date to disucss this. But that gives us plenty of time to think about it - as well as discuss it on this blog of course.

This branch notes the recent growth in so-called 'citizen
journalism', which has brought about the situation whereby major media outlets have used audiovisual material produced by members of the public.
Recognising that this is an inevitable product of the ever greater
availability to the public of technology that can produce such material,
this branch/council expresses concern that this has serious implications for professional journalists.

'Citizen journalism' has, around the world, had very positive effects on the media by opening up a space for people to present their views and personal situations to a wider audience than was ever possible. In the period following the Indian Ocean tsunami, new technology was invaluable in sending images of the devastation and survivors' stories around the world. Mobile phone video footage from inside the Tube on 7 July gave the public a view of the incident that was not available from anywhere else.

However, these situations have also revealed the willingness of employers to exploit material they get from the public without proper regard for the originator's rights. Furthermore, they illustrate the possibility that "citizen journalism" could offer employers a cheap alternative to professional journalists' work.

This branch calls on the NEC to make dealing with "citizen
journalism" a major priority for the union in negotiations with employers.

In all such negotiations, the union should seek to agree terms and
conditions for the use of submissions from the general public that:
1 Fully respect the copyright of the originator.
2 Offer to pay for all submissions that are used in the place of paid-for
journalistic content and offers alternatives to payment, such as donations to charity, should the originator not wish to be paid.
3 Ensure that the practice is only used in circumstance where there are no alternative submissions from professional journalists and does not become a cheap alternative to paying for professional submissions.