Interview With Demotix – Part 2

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of chatting with Turi Munthe, CEO of the ‘citizen wire’ start-up Demotix about the future of reporting and social media’s place in journalism. You can read Part 1 of this interview here.

Appfrica: You’ve got a few competitors in this space.  What sets Demotix apart from them?
 

Turi Munthe: Many people are working on citizen journalism projects – and I have to say the more the merrier. Citizen journalism, in my view, is like handing a megaphone to the girl/guy in the street and giving them a voice. It’s political participation write large and that’s a great thing for whoever is doing it.

As for competitors, I’m not sure we do have any. We’re genuinely global – with contributors from Cuba to Kashmir; we’ve developed genuine relationships with the mainstream media to ensure that the news sent to Demotix gets a second wind in the mainstream press/broadcast news too; we’re genuinely committed to the politics of citizen media (and have – unlike anyone else – spent a lot of time and effort making sure our contributors are protected from both a tech and a legal perspective); we are multilingual. (One of the advantages of being based in a small European country is you’re very aware of the rest of the world around you!) As far as I know we’re the only platform out there that tries to raise amateurs to the level of professionals (in terms of payment). Everyone else seems to be trying to drop professionals’ payment to the level of microstock. We have the full support of NGOs, of the UN, of bloggers the world over…

In real terms, I think we’re truly the only 2.0 wire.


A: The number of citizen journalists seem to be on the rise.  Do you think there will be increased problems of accountability? For instance, if  people use your service to upload photographs they’ve ’stolen’ and get paid.  What’s the process after they’ve been caught?  What can the  publisher do to retaliate?  Is there any sort of identity verification for tracking down potential defrauders? Alternatively, a lot of photographers have a big fear of using sites  like this because they think their work will be stolen…not necessarily by the owners of the site but by anonymous browsers on the web.  How does Demotix protect its users images?


TM: My view is that the more citizen journalists out there, the LESS likely fraud is to take place – because we’ll all get better at understanding how it works. Already a lot of tech exists which can trace image plagiarism, and that will get better and better. Photographers already use these tools to track their images. But the way Demotix deals with it is through watermarking. Watermarking is reversible, but it takes ages – and is therefore usually cheaper to buy than to modify. As for people stealing others’ images and selling them – that’s straightforwardly theft, and would be dealt with as such – by us and by whomever bought them.

A: 
What’s the gain for the average person wanting to use your site?  What types of relationships have you built with existing mainstream media outlets?


TM: We don’t really have an ‘average’ person. We see three types of users for Demotix…

The Viewer: wants to see real news, from real places, shared by real people. Demotix will be for them a visual feast of ground-up, grass-roots news – local, international, cultural, political – everything except what they get in the increasingly anodyne mainstream media.

The Contributor: has fantastic stories to tell, fantastic photos or videos to sell, or just happens to have been in the right (or wrong!) place at the right time, and wants to share his/her stories with the world. Demotix not only brings together an avid community of viewers and key influencers in the news space, but also will give them (we’re not quite there yet!) the perfect forum to present themselves to the web. We’re now designing our ‘Contributor’s Page’ which will essentially allow our contributors to completely customize their own web home, and present their videos and photos. It will be a cross between any professional photo/journalist’s website and a kind of social network profile.

The Buyer: who’ll want the images either for their newspaper, broadcast, book cover, magazine article, even to put on their wall. They are shortly to get the most efficient buying mechanism available anywhere on the net!

As for the relationships the we’re building with the mainstream media, they’re simple. They are always looking for new sources of news and images. We can provide them with the most exciting thing there is – real news by real people on the ground. So we’re building a network of editors whom we’ve met with and who love Demotix, to whom we send a regular news and picture wire. We’ve been open a couple of months, and those already include The Telegraph, La Repubblica, Le Monde and Newsweek as well as a host of smaller ones.

A: 
Does Demotix work better when people just upload whatever they want or should every picture have a clear story in the hopes that the user will hit on something a mainstream reporter covers down the road?  In other words, if there’s a  fire outside my window tomorrow morning should I run out and snap a few  shots in the hopes that my local news agency is using your service?
 

TM: Every picture needs a clear context, because without that context we have no idea what the photograph is telling us. In many cases we have had to reject images because we did not know what ‘news’ they purported to be telling us – so it’s important all news pictures are flagged with some explanatory text. Otherwise, anything goes. As it should!

A: Does Demotix work in reverse — is there an option for bloggers and self-publishers to use your images? Is the cost to them the same?

TM: Yes, bloggers and self-publishers can use our images – absolutely. We’re currently thinking that they should probably be allowed to do so (up to a certain small size) for free, as long as they give a direct link back to the relevant photographer’s profile back on Demotix. That will probably be the default, but every contributor to Demotix will be able to opt out of that clause should they want to.



A: There are some rather noteworthy photojournalists using your service. How has the reception been from the existing industry?


TM: Demotix sells images at the same rate as any other agency, and divides up the pie on far better terms. Demotix allows contributors to upload their own content, as and when they want. We don’t ever take copyright. Photographers can take down their images whenever they want. And can sell their photos themselves in as many ways and through as many other channels as they want.

We add another fantastic string to their bow. We give them their own alternative to the over-bearing traditional agencies (who anyway far prefer creative images to editorial ones). And we give them greater freedom to choose the subjects and stories they are truly passionate about reporting.


A: Are there particular regions of the world where you need more contributors?
 

TM: Everywhere! The more we are, the more we’ll have to say to the mainstream media. We’re nothing if we’re not a community.

But one thing I would say, is that we know we can sell ‘quirky’ images very well. A family of 6 on a scooter in Kabul, for example…


A: Demotix seems to be in a fairly early stage of development.  What’s next for the service?

TM: We’re completely redesigning the site now that we have a little bit of cash to do so; we’re focusing on building up our partnerships with the mainstream media around the world, and – most importantly – we are trying to reach out to anyone and everyone who has stories to tell, and images to share, to bring them into what we hope will be a community. We hope to change the way news is reported and gathered, and this just might bring freedom of speech and the right to be heard to the darker corners of the globe.

~ fin ~