E-Media Tidbits

Scoopt, the U.K.-based news picture agency that deals exclusively with images from citizen journalists, reports that it's starting to make some sales to news organizations. Founder Kyle MacRae reports on its first sales:

• A Bristol man captured the immediate aftermath of a dramatic car chase, and Scoopt sold his pictures to the Bristol Evening Post.
• A Scoopt member used his cameraphone to photograph and film a commuter train fire at Abbey Wood Station, London. ITV's "London Today" news program licensed and broadcast the video.
• And a Scoopt member obtained exclusive pictures of (model) Jodie Kidd's wedding. Scoopt sold one picture to the Sun newspaper.

MacRae won't reveal how much the citizen news images were sold for due to an agreement with members not to publicly reveal how much they earn, but he says, "I can assure you (hand on heart) that we achieved professional rates and that we were very pleased with both the video and the Sun picture sales." Scoopt keeps 50 percent of the fees earned when it sells a citizen news photograph or video.

MacRae also offers a glimpse at what it's like to try to sell a citizen news photo: "We spent the best part of five hours on the phone on Saturday afternoon trying to sell [the] wedding picture to the Sunday press. We had three potential takers, all of which fell through for various reasons, so we followed up on Sunday and eventually landed a deal with the Sun for Monday publication. We got a great price."

Scoopt soon will have a competitor in selling citizen news photos. A U.S.-based start-up, Spy Media, is set to debut in early October. Its model is slightly different, serving both citizen photographers and professional photojournalists, who upload photos to a website, where picture editors can buy rights to images.