The BBC's deliciously titled 'user-generated content hub' employs six people to check content and distribute it "as widely as they can" throughout the organisation. Pete Clifton, head of BBC News Interactive, said the team does verify pictures by looking at them in Photoshop "but the best thing to do is to fire questions at people".
He said if someone has sent in a false image they rarely go through with it. He said the 95% of submissions are worth looking at, if not always worth using. "There's always a small minority that want to put one over on us. You become very expert in looking at these things."
Clifton said the BBC doesn't expect to pay for content and he doesn't recall anyone ever asking for payment. He added that users always retain copyright.
John Cameron of AuBC said they don't pay, but "would learn to", and on the other end of the scale Jonathan Munro, deputy editor of ITN, said it has and does pay for footage - including "tens of thousands of pounds" for footage of the arrest of some people that attempted a copycat London bombing.
"We pay because it's a commercial commodity, a competitive market and has commercial value - and we'd try to recoup that value by selling the footage on to our clients." But he said ITN would not commission people to go out and get footage. "That kind of preemptive payment is a recipe for disaster. It has to be after the event and has to have relative news value. It's just the same as paying for a You've Been Framed video."
Fran Unsworth, head of newsgathering at the BBC, said that the newsdesk had been concerned by much of the footage that had been sent in from Buncefield. "A lot of teenagers were coming to our link on the ground and they provided the best pictures of the day by getting far closer than the BBC's own camera crews would go.
"When we said we can't use this because it's too wobbly, they said 'I'll go out and get some more'." Looking at the health and safety implications of these situations, she said that as employers they would arguably be liable if they send someone out to get this content.
Clifton also said that he expects all his reporters to regularly look at a selection of good blogs relevant to their subject area. "It's a vital part of our day-to-day business. There's a range of discussion going on and it's not just the debates we're having."
