People around the world capture unexpected, entertaining, historical and newsworthy moments on their smartphones everyday. 

Some of the most defining news footage and popular viral content of the past few years was filmed by an eyewitness.

These photographs and videos are utilised by broadcasters, publishers, creative agencies and brands who seek to feature them in their own reporting and storytelling.

They also provide educators and human rights organisations with valuable information and evidence.

There are many issues surrounding how these photographs and videos are captured, discovered and published, relating to protection, consent, verification and copyright. 

Eyewitness Media Hub is here to help.

Ethical

  • We encourage broadcasters and publishers to adhere to a set of industry-wide standards when securing the rights to use eyewitness media
  • We help eyewitnesses make informed decisions when granting permission for their content to be used
  • We advise publishers, social networks and audiences on the impact of distributing graphic, sensitive or upsetting imagery

Legal

  • We provide guidance regarding how eyewitness media should be presented when published or broadcast
  • We inform eyewitnesses of their rights to privacy and ownership for content they have shared on social media 
  • We promote preventative practices in an effort to protect all parties from legal repercussions

Logistical

  • We deliver training in the most efficient ways to find, verify and secure permission to use eyewitness media
  • We help to extend the knowledge and conversation surrounding eyewitness media beyond a niche group of practitioners
  • We support and promote innovative solutions to some of the major challenges faced by eyewitnesses and publishers

Research

Through our continuing research we endeavour to deepen understanding of the phenomenon of eyewitness media and its impact on the following groups:





  • creators
  • audiences
  • publishers
  • broadcasters

Read Research

Development

Using our research as a foundation, we develop resources that provide practical guidance and training in the following areas:





  • permission and consent
  • sharing graphic content
  • vicarious trauma
  • verifying content
  • protecting sources

Guiding Principles

Distribution

We raise awareness through our outreach activities and aim to embed best practice principles through:

  • training workshops
  • mentoring schemes
  • audio and video broadcasts
  • digital packages 
  • summits and conferences

Read Articles

Claire Wardle

Claire Wardle is one of the world’s leading experts on UGC, and sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Social Media. She designed the discovery and verification training programme for BBC News and went on to work with social media news agency Storyful and UNHCR. Claire has a PhD in Communication from Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. In April 2015 she was announced as the Research Director for Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

@cward1e

Sam Dubberley

Sam has over ten years' experience in broadcast news. He headed the Eurovision News Exchange from 2010 to 2013, managing the world’s largest exchange of television news content. He  worked alongside Claire Wardle and Pete Brown to conduct research into UGC and broadcast news, published by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. He is now based in Istanbul providing consultancy for a range of corporate, non-profit, governmental and academic institutions.

@samdubberley

Jenni Sargent

Jenni Sargent is a director of Eyewitness Media Hub and part of the research team responsible for exploring audience attitudes and behaviour relating to how eyewitness media is handled by news organisations. Jenni specialises in creating bespoke online training and is working to develop a library of resources to address the logistical, ethical and legal issues surrounding eyewitness media. Her company Digital Skills Network created the first fully interactive verification course for journalists in 2013.

@jennisarge

Pete Brown

Pete Brown is co-founder and lead researcher at Eyewitness Media Hub. He has recently completed a study of eight major international newspapers to explore their usage of eyewitness media and has partnered with the Reuters Institutes for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford to complete a study exploring attitudes towards eyewitness media among UK audiences. Pete has a PhD from Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.

@beteprown

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