Yahoo partners with Reuters on eyewitness pictures
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-12-04T114148Z_01_NAAD0401_RTRUKOC_0_US-YAHOO-REUTERS-EYEWITNESS.xml

By Eric Auchard

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc., in partnership with Reuters, is inviting the public to contribute eyewitness photos and videos of news events, in the latest move to turn spectators into on-the-spot journalists.

The Internet media company said it has created a news contribution system called "You Witness" and is working with news and information company Reuters Group Plc, which will edit and distribute selected photos to other news outlets.

Yahoo plans to run selected images contributed by users as part of topical packages on Yahoo News, which currently offers news from dozens of professional news organizations including Associated Press, CNN and Reuters.
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With hundreds of millions of camera phones in circulation, consumers are able to take high-quality photos and videos.

The South Asian tsunami, the London Underground bombings and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans have showcased the power of people who happen to be in the wrong place at the right time to capture history as it happens.

"There is already a lot of quality amateur journalism being created by our users," said Scott Moore, head of news and information at Yahoo Media Group. "Yahoo needed a more efficient process for soliciting and publishing user- contributed photos and video."

While focused initially on news, Yahoo aims to expand the You Witness system to solicit user contributions for sports, entertainment and other sections of its site, a spokesman for the Sunnyvale, California-based company said.

Yahoo and London-based Reuters are working out a plan to compensate contributors when their images are selected for commercial syndication, the two companies said. Continued...

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