Demotix
Encyclopedia
Demotix is a citizen journalism
website and photo agency. It enables freelance journalists and amateurs to share their user-generated content
and photojournalism
, and license them to clients including mainstream media
organisations, charities, and stock image buyers.
The website was launched in January 2009 by CEO Turi Munthe and COO Jonathan Tepper and is based in London
, UK. The objective of Demotix is to "rescue journalism" by connecting independent journalists with the traditional media.
word Demos
or Δήμος, which refers to 'the people'. Demotic
means 'of the people' and most commonly refers to language. CEO Turi Munthe has stated that he chose the name because "Our aim is to open up journalism to the people in the modern age, just as the demotic script opened up writing in ancient Egypt".
Since its foundation, Demotix has announced partnership agreements with a variety of other news organisations, including Global Voices Online
, the Press Association
, and Corbis
Images. Demotix has also partnered with The Huffington Post
, The Daily Telegraph
and Le Monde
as well as Future TV in Lebanon, the Himalayan Times
and elsewhere around the globe.
In August 2011, Demotix CEO Turi Munthe announced that it had accepted an undisclosed investment from Corbis
, following on from the media distribution agreement the two companies had arrived at in March of the same year.
, and its in-depth coverage of the G20 protests in London including an image of Ian Tomlinson
who died at the event.
, the Iranian government imposed sanctions on all foreign media, preventing them from documenting the protests. However, Demotix contributors, based in Iran, defied this media crackdown to upload hundreds of images onto the Demotix website illustrating the violent street-battles and civil unrest. The strategy delivered in Iran
, with Demotix offering pictures that can’t be matched by the mainstream media
. The coverage was syndicated by a number of agencies such as Reuters
, Agence France Presse, European Pressphoto Agency
, The New York Times
, the UK's The Daily Telegraph
, El Pais and a range of other newspapers.
On Wednesday, June 17, Demotix reported one of its reporters had been arrested and his camera seized in Iran
. On Thursday, June 25, Demotix commissioning editor Andy Heath reported, "We've just heard that the Demotix contributor who was arrested last week by the Iranian police will not face further remember inquiries and has had his camera returned to him by officials."
On Saturday, June 20, Demotix received some of the only photos of the violence in Tehran, where authorities were shown to use tear gas against protesters. These images were licensed to a number of outlets, including US newspaper The New York Times
, the UK's The Daily Telegraph
and Spain's El Pais.
In July 2009, a Demotix contributor uploaded a photo of Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard professor, at the point of his arrest for disorderly conduct. This was the only image of Prof. Gates’ arrest in circulation and, as such, the photo became an important piece of evidence in the resulting debate.
The photograph was licensed by multiple major American news outlets including ABC
, CNN
, CBS
and NBC
, and in such newspapers as The New York Post, USA Today
, The Boston Globe
, The Washington Post
and The Guardian
in the UK.
, Iraq
and Pakistan
uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have uploaded content to Demotix. Contributions were submitted from countries including Egypt
, Tunisia
and Libya
in North Africa.
In the Persian Gulf
and Arabian Peninsula
, there were submissions from Yemen
and Bahrain
.
, as well as material illustrating the spontaneous cleanup movements which followed them.
The agency also noted in blog posts that several contributors had come under attack by rioters.
and freedom of information.
Demotix defines its "freedom of speech" role as giving the "man and (often more importantly) woman on the street a voice. Whether they're in Azerbaijan or Zanzibar. A space where they can tell their stories, build communities, and get their news out to the world."
Demotix defines its "freedom of information" role as participating in distributing information to an "under-funded mainstream media". Demotix intends to build news communities and source stories and news from every corner of the globe.
These two aims are served in two primary ways: first, by publishing contributors' submissions to the Demotix website, where they benefit from the site's SEO
, SMO
and other online visibility efforts. Secondly, the agency places contributors’ images in the mainstream media, filling in the gaps where media institutions may lack local personnel, knowledge or access.
Demotix has over 25,000 members in 190 countries and territories, and relays a selection of its best content, selected by its full-time editors, to over 100 news media companies worldwide in real time.
Anyone who registers with Demotix can upload images and video and organise them into a story. Users can remain anonymous if the country or environment they are working from is not safe - whether that be because they run the risk of physical harm or death, or because they risk losing their livelihood (as in the case of whistleblowers). Demotix sells non-exclusive rights for user-submitted photographs for anything between $50 and $3,000 USD. Demotix also sells exclusive rights for whatever price can be negotiated.
Users receive 50% of the money collected from each sale and retain the copyright. As laid out in Demotix’ Terms of Business, users grant Demotix a license to “access your Materials through the Website, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform and sublicence to distributors, resellers and end users” - meaning that “At no time does Demotix hold or own any right of ownership.”
Demotix is supported by Gandi as a webhost, site designer Very Studios, and the Demotix logo was designed by Pentagram
.
The agency won the Media Guardian Innovation Award for Independent Media in 2009. The agency was also awarded a British Airways
Opportunity Grant in 2010 , a Webby
award in the "News" category in 2011 and was nominated to the TechMedia Invest 100 2009.
Demotix has been nominated at the SXSW Awards 2009, in the Community and People's Choice categories, the Mashable
Open Web Awards 2009 in the Political News category, and the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism, 2009.
Citizen journalism
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...
website and photo agency. It enables freelance journalists and amateurs to share their user-generated content
User-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
and photojournalism
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
, and license them to clients including mainstream media
Mainstream media
Mainstream media are those media disseminated via the largest distribution channels, which therefore represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter...
organisations, charities, and stock image buyers.
The website was launched in January 2009 by CEO Turi Munthe and COO Jonathan Tepper and is based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK. The objective of Demotix is to "rescue journalism" by connecting independent journalists with the traditional media.
Name - Etymology and Significance
The name Demotix comes from the GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word Demos
Demos
Demos may refer to:* Demos, a rhetorical term for the population of an ancient Greek state** Deme or Demoi, the term for an ancient subdivision of Attica, Greece...
or Δήμος, which refers to 'the people'. Demotic
Demotic
Demotic may refer to:*Demotic Greek, a variety of the Greek language*Demotic , a script and stage of the Egyptian language...
means 'of the people' and most commonly refers to language. CEO Turi Munthe has stated that he chose the name because "Our aim is to open up journalism to the people in the modern age, just as the demotic script opened up writing in ancient Egypt".
History
Demotix launched in July 2008. The agency was previously to be known as "Nyouz", but this name was discarded in favour of Demotix.Since its foundation, Demotix has announced partnership agreements with a variety of other news organisations, including Global Voices Online
Global Voices Online
Global Voices Online is an international network of bloggers and citizen journalists that follow, report, and summarizes what is going on in the blogosphere in every corner of the world...
, the Press Association
Press Association
The Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
, and Corbis
Corbis
Corbis Corporation is an American company, based in Seattle, Washington, that licenses the rights to photographs, footage and other visual media...
Images. Demotix has also partnered with The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
as well as Future TV in Lebanon, the Himalayan Times
Himalayan Times
The Himalayan Times is an English-language newspaper distributed in Nepal. The Himalayan times has been a recent entry into the Nepalese newspaper market but it has already gained grounds due to high standard of journalism and its broad appeal to the masses. International Media Network Nepal Pvt....
and elsewhere around the globe.
In August 2011, Demotix CEO Turi Munthe announced that it had accepted an undisclosed investment from Corbis
Corbis
Corbis Corporation is an American company, based in Seattle, Washington, that licenses the rights to photographs, footage and other visual media...
, following on from the media distribution agreement the two companies had arrived at in March of the same year.
Notable Stories
Demotix has been particularly successful at covering news the mainstream media cannot reach, and came to prominence with its user-generated reporting from the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
, and its in-depth coverage of the G20 protests in London including an image of Ian Tomlinson
Death of Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...
who died at the event.
Iran Elections
In June 2009, during protests over the disputed presidential election in IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, the Iranian government imposed sanctions on all foreign media, preventing them from documenting the protests. However, Demotix contributors, based in Iran, defied this media crackdown to upload hundreds of images onto the Demotix website illustrating the violent street-battles and civil unrest. The strategy delivered in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, with Demotix offering pictures that can’t be matched by the mainstream media
Mainstream media
Mainstream media are those media disseminated via the largest distribution channels, which therefore represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter...
. The coverage was syndicated by a number of agencies such as Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, Agence France Presse, European Pressphoto Agency
European Pressphoto Agency
European Pressphoto Agency B.V. is an international news photo agency.Images from all parts of the world covering news, politics, sports, business, finance as well as arts, culture and entertainment are provided by a global network of over 400 professional photographers and included in the epa news...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the UK's The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, El Pais and a range of other newspapers.
On Wednesday, June 17, Demotix reported one of its reporters had been arrested and his camera seized in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. On Thursday, June 25, Demotix commissioning editor Andy Heath reported, "We've just heard that the Demotix contributor who was arrested last week by the Iranian police will not face further remember inquiries and has had his camera returned to him by officials."
On Saturday, June 20, Demotix received some of the only photos of the violence in Tehran, where authorities were shown to use tear gas against protesters. These images were licensed to a number of outlets, including US newspaper The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the UK's The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and Spain's El Pais.
Henry Gates - A Citizen Journalism Exclusive
The photograph was licensed by multiple major American news outlets including ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, and in such newspapers as The New York Post, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in the UK.
The 9/11 Wars
Demotix continues to receive contributions from countries that became the focus of military intervention, invasion, or Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity in the years following the September 11, 2001 attacks, including AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings
Participants in and observers of the Arab SpringArab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have uploaded content to Demotix. Contributions were submitted from countries including Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in North Africa.
In the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
and Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
, there were submissions from Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
and Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
.
2011 Norway attacks
Among the first on the scene of the bombs detonated in central Oslo in July 2011 were Demotix contributors, capturing some graphic images of the aftermath of the explosions. Their photos were among the first to show that the bombs had had fatal casualties.2011 UK Riots
Many photographers submitted their images of the rioting that broke out across the UK in August 20112011 England riots
Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson....
, as well as material illustrating the spontaneous cleanup movements which followed them.
The agency also noted in blog posts that several contributors had come under attack by rioters.
Purpose
Demotix was founded with two principles in mind: freedom of speechFreedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
and freedom of information.
Demotix defines its "freedom of speech" role as giving the "man and (often more importantly) woman on the street a voice. Whether they're in Azerbaijan or Zanzibar. A space where they can tell their stories, build communities, and get their news out to the world."
Demotix defines its "freedom of information" role as participating in distributing information to an "under-funded mainstream media". Demotix intends to build news communities and source stories and news from every corner of the globe.
These two aims are served in two primary ways: first, by publishing contributors' submissions to the Demotix website, where they benefit from the site's SEO
SEO
SEO or search engine optimization, the process of improving ranking in search engine results.SEO may also refer to:* Seo , a Korean family name* SE-O or Västra Götaland County, a county on the western coast of Sweden...
, SMO
Social Media Optimization
Social media optimization is the methodization of social media activity with the intent of attracting unique visitors to website content. SMO is one of many online methods of website optimization...
and other online visibility efforts. Secondly, the agency places contributors’ images in the mainstream media, filling in the gaps where media institutions may lack local personnel, knowledge or access.
Business Model
Demotix works because of its links with major media buyers across the world. Demotix is a for-profit site, acting as a broker between freelance photo- and video-journalists and traditional newspapers, magazines, TV channels and websites.Demotix has over 25,000 members in 190 countries and territories, and relays a selection of its best content, selected by its full-time editors, to over 100 news media companies worldwide in real time.
Anyone who registers with Demotix can upload images and video and organise them into a story. Users can remain anonymous if the country or environment they are working from is not safe - whether that be because they run the risk of physical harm or death, or because they risk losing their livelihood (as in the case of whistleblowers). Demotix sells non-exclusive rights for user-submitted photographs for anything between $50 and $3,000 USD. Demotix also sells exclusive rights for whatever price can be negotiated.
Users receive 50% of the money collected from each sale and retain the copyright. As laid out in Demotix’ Terms of Business, users grant Demotix a license to “access your Materials through the Website, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform and sublicence to distributors, resellers and end users” - meaning that “At no time does Demotix hold or own any right of ownership.”
Demotix is supported by Gandi as a webhost, site designer Very Studios, and the Demotix logo was designed by Pentagram
Pentagram (design studio)
Pentagram is a design studio that was founded in 1972 by Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes, Kenneth Grange and Mervyn Kurlansky in Needham Road, West London, UK...
.
Awards and Recognition
Demotix has won or been nominated for numerous awards.The agency won the Media Guardian Innovation Award for Independent Media in 2009. The agency was also awarded a British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
Opportunity Grant in 2010 , a Webby
Webby Awards
A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
award in the "News" category in 2011 and was nominated to the TechMedia Invest 100 2009.
Demotix has been nominated at the SXSW Awards 2009, in the Community and People's Choice categories, the Mashable
Mashable
Mashable is an American news website and Internet news blog founded by Pete Cashmore. The website's primary focus is social media news, but also covers news and developments in mobile, entertainment, online video, business, web development, technology, memes and gadgets...
Open Web Awards 2009 in the Political News category, and the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism, 2009.