news
11/17/2006
BBC Will Pay for Play
The BBC has decided to pay viewers for user-generated content, but only for material that is "particularly editorially important or unique."
The new guidelines tell BBC staff they can make payments to members of the public who send in footage from mobile phones or cameras, but "audiences should not be encouraged to think that payment is the norm".
"We do not want to give people the impression that we will pay for hundreds of pieces of user-generated content," said Vicky Taylor, the BBC's head of interactivity. She said the only time the BBC has paid in the past for amateur footage was for video of the Concorde crash in Paris.
With video cameras are in the hands of citizen’s everywhere, news can be now be captured by a passerby. The viral power of blogs and online news sites has proven to be an effective way to spread news and network broadcasters don’t want to miss out on the less than professional clips.
The new editorial policy guidelines state: "Material is submitted to the BBC under published terms and conditions. These give us a free, non-exclusive license to publish on any platform, and the person who took the footage/pictures retains copyright.”
In rare occasions, the BBC is willing maybe willing to pay-in-pounds for exclusivity. But for now, the pay-per-clip is more of a reward for being in the right place at the right time than an incentive to break the news.
11/16/2006
WSJ Reporters In Union Will Stop Podcasts, Webcast Interviews, CNBC Appearances
Members of the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, the union that represents WSJ reporters, are being told not to make “unpaid” appearances online or on TV as the union negotiates a new contract.
That includes podcasts, webcast interviews and regularly scheduled CNBC appearances that publishers consider part of a reporter’s job and the union believes should bring additional compensation. The stoppage order, AP reports, represents a “sudden escalation of tensions” between the union and Dow Jones. E.S. Browning, a financial markets reporter who chairs the bargaining committee, says the decision was made when company representatives told negotiators that they would not discuss any of the union’s proposals. A Dow Jones spokesman told the AP the company is negotiating in good faith, “As we seek an agreement that serves the interest of all parties, we intend to focus our comments at the bargaining table.” A union bulletin here.
-- Staci D. Kramer
