• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 11, 2008

For some time, local TV news stations have looked to enlist local citizens as freelance videographers  -- with emphasis on the word  "free" -- all for the glory of getting their five seconds of fame on the air.  

Now St. Petersburg, Fla.-based CBS affiliate WTSP wants a deeper connection, incorporating financial temptation into the typical good-citizen model. The station wants to train TV viewers and pay them $20 for each video clip. And this isn't an open call to Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg TV viewers. WTSP just wants 20 high-producing videographers.

Here's the catch: TV video-citizens must contribute at least 10 pieces of video every three months. After a year, you get to keep the video camera. As in the more casual plan, where no money was involved, these Tampa Bay viewers can film anything -- child's play at school, neighborhood meetings, tornados, car crashes, and fires.

Needing consistent news footage with, they hope, added news value, TV executives are stretching the journalism-cost model. It's no wonder this kind of stuff is going on, considering all the layoffs at newspapers and TV stations news operations.

But does cost-saving mean it will be harder to identify what is news  -- and what isn't?

Viewers upload all sorts of video on YouTube and other sites because of their personal desire  -- not because of financial incentives. We all know what that means -- and how much salt to add to that mix.

What happen when you change the equation and pay some weekend-journalism-trained video producers? What happens to the Tampa Bay-St. Pete resident who doesn't make the cut - but has valuable video to pass on?  You would think the WTSP news director would find a way to pay a fee for that stuff. Perhaps that entrepreneurial resident might go to a competing station for compensation.

In a new digital world of journalism, where old rules may not apply, some believe this is good news. Others think it's a continued problem, perhaps muddying the waters more.

One post in response to the WTSP local news story wondered: "It's a decent concept -- as long as they do not eliminate actual professional reporters from the streets."  Or, as long as we can tell the difference.

advertisement

advertisement