I TOTALLY agree with you! We all know that the use of camera phone video, digital camera photos, and home video in only grew. I just don't come to the same conclusion as you do. Maybe we have a different definition of what stringers do. Here in New York stringers serve two purpus. First, on the over night the stations have no crews working or even on call. We (stringers) chase everything that happens. I limit my work to New Jersey. I can be almost sure of 3 to 5 stores in a week that I sell 6 times over (WABC, WCBS, WNBC, WNYW, WWOR, WPIX). Second, during the day stringers shoot the spot news that gets sent to the stations and either used as a vo, or vosot if we get sound. Or get edited along with the stations crew's video into a package. Third, I happen to have a KU uplink truck, so I get hired to work with a crew and report to do stories outside of microwave range (stations have ku trucks also but assignment editors hate to break a truck from a story they are already on when they can call me and I'll race to the scene. All the stringers here have microwave trucks but only two of us have satellite trucks. So when a big story breaks our sat trucks are guaranteed work because we are available and because a shortage of microwave channels make satellite the best choice at many stories. Heck, I generally don't leave the tri state area here but when Katrina hit Good Morning America begged me to go.
I just do not see camera phones or more correctly the average citizen having the shooting abilities even with a home camera much less a camera phone to meet the standards of the broadcasters.
I should note that stringers can make money on all the camera out their. A couple of weeks ago ATF raided a house in Staten Island for explosives. I was the first news crew on location. A local guy had shot exclusive photos of the perp. I quickly cut a deal to go 50/50 on sales, he downloaded the pictures to my laptop, I call all the assignment desks and sold them.
Yes I see stations using camera phones more and more. But I don't see those photos as even putting a dent into my sales. They will just take the shaky video from the phone of lets say flames, use 10 seconds of that, then edit in my shots of victims crying, chief directing fire fighting, my shots of Red Cross assisting victims, etc and edit it all together.
You may be right in your conclusion, I just have not come to the same conclusion.
tvnews
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CNN - I Report
The Weather Channel, Weather Warrior
Fox News
As I'm writing this I am at my home office working and watching CNN. CNN is using photos of the aftermath of the plane crash this morning in Florida. Think they paid anything for it? No.
Remember the VA Tech Shootings? CNN got an I-Report video from a cell phone that was the top story around the world.
Last year, one of the techs from TWC (Bruce knows who) called to tell me to check out the cell phone video they got from Kansas of a tornado. I've seen a ton of tornado videos and this was shot by someone filling up at a gas station and a tornado came down almost on top of them. The footage was better then a lot of the storm chasers out there could ever shoot.
If you think the CJ's with the camera phones are nothing to worry about, think again. All one news stations GM would have to do is setup a news membership to verify copyright stuff and then blitz the airwaves with "Want to be part of our news team? Sign up at KBFE.com for your CJ Membership and then send us your video"
They would have to send in a signed agreement saying "I dumb arse viewer agree to give KBFE (bum fudge egypt) the right to use in perp anything and everything I supply KBFE and free of charge and hold KBFE blameless and harmless and assume all copyright issues and blah blah blah..."
Just wait, in 2 years time you will see this and it won't be the stringers bitching about gigs, it will be station photogs getting let go. In 2 years time, I predict since so much content will be coming in from viewers wanting to be viral superstars with bragging rights saying "I DID THAT" a few of you may be losing your jobs.