There is a new website heavily promoting the use of word of mouth called Rawporter, which offers rather nice benefits to users or “rawporters” who post pictures and videos on the homepage of this site.
Rawporter’s claim is this; with the increase of social media sharing of pictures and videos across the web, any large news source can snatch said pictures or videos and use them in their own stories without giving the photographer or videographer any credit.
Rawporter wants to change this concept.
With this website, the hope is (as it has only been up and running for about 2 years) that citizen journalists and bloggers can catch raw newsworthy material and post it onto their website before sharing it elsewhere via social media.
Rawporter has an App on iPhones and Androids that sends assignments to any registered “rawporter” that tells where a news channel needs some raw footage or pictures from an event that just took place. The news outlets offer a price for these pictures or videos and the first rawporter to get to the scene simply takes the shot or shoots the footage, uploads these onto their app on their phone, and gets their cash reward by having Rawporter sell it.
And the credit of your snapshot or video is finally given to you.
Rawporter App on iPhone and Android
As of now, users must have a PayPal account to receive their compensation for their work, which Co-Founder Rob Gaige says “will change once the website works out more of its ‘kinks’.”
But how will Rawporter protect your entries from being taken by the mainstream news without them first paying?
With each entry submitted into Rawporter, it is embedded with an encription code and copyright card that can only be taken if bought by a local media outlet.
So, it is a good idea, but it has some downsides to it, as most ideas still in their early stages do.
This website assumes that mainstream news stations will send out messages to Rawporter before sending their own cameramen.The mainstream channels could see this as saving money, offering less for pictures then paying their own cameramen.
It also hopes and believes heavily that their rawporters can “be in the right place at the right time.” which is not too far of a claim as any person can have an account for free and any person can upload what they want in the hopes of a cash reward.
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