LONDON – The latest in a line of citizen-journalism contributor platforms embraced by big media, Sweden’s Bambuser is taking an equity investment from Associated Press.
Bambuser members broadcast live mobile video of news events like the Syrian conflicts, Russia’s meteor sightings and a recent helicopter crash in London. AP has had exclusivity on the footage amongst competing news wires since the pair brokered a deal in 2012.
Now AP’s global video news director Sandy MacIntyre will join Bambuser’s board as a non-executive director. The group says it hopes smartphone users can be “first responders” in the scenes of breaking news, carrying verified live video to its newswire clients and, in turn, to TV viewers’ homes.
In previous years, citizen photography site Demotix sold to Getty Images whilst rival Scoopt was acquired by Corbis. The size of AP’s investment and its equity stake were not disclosed.
Last year Bambuser executive chairman Hans Eriksson told Beet.TV in this video interview that his AP partnership had led to live video being aired on CNN, Al Jazeera, Sky News and BBC News.
