Citizen journalism

You, your neighbours, your family and your friends are now all photojournalists. Yes you can have your work published in the National press! You don't need an expensive DSLR and pricey lenses either! How about that! You can now upgrade your old Nokia for a brand new camera-phone for free and sell your photos to the Press...

Shall I hang up my coat?

Well not quite.

It seems ironic that since the tragedy of last years Tube bombings, a new fad was born, now commonly known as "Citizen Journalism". All you need is a phone with built-in camera, spot something interesting, take a snap, send straight to your choice of newspaper and receive a fat £10,000 cheque! Simple hey?!

Well actually no...

Shortly after the devastating blow to London Underground another attempt was made, this time it failed. The Police tracked the terrorists down and the following day we all saw one of the suspects leaning out of a window surrendering himself on all of the front covers.

This was not photographed by a professional but a casual passer by with a compact camera who just happened to be there at the right time. His quick thinking netted him a lot of money, £60,000 to be exact!

Surely thats fantastic? We had better all have a go? The sad truth is, the above example is rare and the man involved did play his cards with great cunning to get that kind of payment. Its not considered to be a norm.

Where will "Citizen Journalism" lead? Will it destroy the lives of those who want to take risks? Will Joe Public flirt with certain death to photograph someone who may kill them? I think the Media is putting normal people at risk, simply to save money!