Readers Take the Pix for these Newspapers

Andreas Tzortzis writes in the NY TImes about the new reader/photographers offering shots to newspapers around the world.

“Bild’s Leser-Reporter, or reader-reporter feature, introduced during the World Cup, brought its audience daily photos of celebrities, politicians and soccer stars — taken from the cellphone cameras of quick-thinking passers-by and sent to the paper.

“Before, readers saw something in the street and called it in to the newspaper,” said Christoph Simon, a Bild editor. “Times have changed.”

The paper paid 500 to 1,000 euros for photos printed in the reader-reporter pages, and, by the end of the World Cup tournament, as many as 1,000 pictures were arriving daily.

News organizations like CNN and The Guardian have been using reader-generated photos and video files since the Asian tsunami in December 2004.

“The important events of the future will be documented by amateur photographers,” said Nicolaus Fest, a member of the Bild editorial board. “We knew that early on, but didn’t have the technical possibilities to do it.”

Improved cellphone camera resolution enables the printing of clearer photos in larger formats. Bild has followed its soccer and celebrity photos in recent weeks with sensational car fires, weather pictures and photos of car models not yet on the market. Mr. Fest says it will not be long before a reader-generated picture of a newsworthy event will run on the front page.”