Who’s who in the world of photojournalism? Well, it could be you, the citizen journalist. With the proliferation of camera phones and hand held video cams, it isn’t any wonder that everyday people would, at some point, be in the midst of “news”, and thus bring the world the best digital evidence for an event that professional photo journalists had no opportunity to reach.

“By the time photojournalists learned that three bombs had detonated in the London Underground, they knew that they were already too late. They hurried to the station entrances, anyway—though police had already blocked access to the tube—and documented train passengers gradually emerging from the tunnels below.
[..]
One passenger pulled out his camera phone and photographed a line of commuters climbing over debris and rubble as they made their way back along the tracks to the King’s Cross station. Another caught a man exiting a crowded, smoke-filled train carriage as he held his jacket collar to his nose.

Within hours, both photos appeared on a variety of local television stations. In less time still, the Associated Press contacted the two passengers and bought the distribution rights to their images.”

Online B2B networking serves as a means for the citizen to hand off their work to the press. Scoopt exists to serve as agent between the citizen and the media. Founder Kyle McRae recognizes the importance of crowdsourcing.

“…where tasks once performed by specific agents are instead relegated to the collective efforts of the general public.

“It’s about having as many people aware in the marketplace as possible,” McRae said. “Because the potential, or the reality, is that the first person on the scene is going to be you or me or somebody like us. It’s not going to be a professional photographer or a news journalist. So it’s not enough for you and me to dedicate the rest of our lives to chasing down news stories. We do need the power of the crowd.”
(Source)