Rawporter. Citizen journalism spreads, news is changing. And you can make money from the comfort of your own phone.

It was only Tuesday that I blogged about the push for "citizen journalism" (bit of a misnomer) following the announcement of the deal between The Huff Post and UStream allowing ordinary folks to post news via their smartphone
 http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/07/citizen-journalism-is-spreading.html Huff Post U Stream deal.

And now along comes 'Rawporter' which again points to the new way in which news will be both gathered and consumed.

It's a simple enough idea (still in Beta). You download the App in itunes and off you go. Your footage is downloaded to the Rawporter website and is browsed by news outlets. If they use it, then Rawporter will pay you for your clips. You retain the rights to your footage and so you can use it on your own www or re-sell it.

Not having achieved funding (yet) they have pushed out their App to get things rolling and it's just not there yet. In fact, it doesn't really work - but it will. The issue will be whether they can survive the "turn off" from frustrated people at the start - still, it's another good idea.

There are also problems on the www with profile updates and so on. My view? better to have waited.

You could see how photographers would use Rawporter for example, but at the minute it's poorly executed. That does not take away from the concept.

Here's the note we got on joining so you get the drift.
  

Hello Streamabout, Welcome to Rawporter. Our simple smartphone Apps turn everyday people into an army of cameras on-location and on-demand, dramatically lowering the cost to get credible footage for media partners large and small.  In exchange for their videos and photos, our Rawporters get the cash and on-screen credit they deserve for simply putting their smartphones to work. Looking for videos and photos? Click here to search our existing content, set alerts or send an assignment! Want to sell your existing videos and photos? Click here to upload now. It doesn't have to be sensational to sell. Everything from fender benders to product reviews are in demand. Click here and see for yourself!

Content is king and on foot of the Murdoch News Corp shake up last week http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/07/murdoch-splits-his-businesss-in-two.html you'll note the quote from Rupert that "news is the most valuable commodity in the world".

In my blog of Tuesday http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/07/citizen-journalism-is-spreading.html I also pointed out the pitfalls of allowing some plonkers to just post news without it being a credible source.

Basically, CNN of all people, allowed direct access to their site and somebody posted that singer "Gotye" was dead. And he tweeted that nope, he wasn't.

That's the problem. Anybody can post anything.

Indeed, even Techcrunch had the same issue recently.

http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/06/techcrunch-blogger-has-extra-bottle-of.html 

Their co-editor deciding, after a bottle of wine or two, to post away unabated. And did she ever! Not a happy bunny at all, just read it.

But Rawporter will I presume, help moderate these stories.

That's why we need "journalists" in "citizen journalism".

The power is shifting, the provision of news is changing.

It's terrific in some ways, worrying in others.

Rawporter isn't it. But it's getting there.