Onpublico is a crowdsourced news site that turns anyone with a smartphone into a reporter. The San Francisco-based startup differs from other citizen journalism websites in that its stories are entirely driven by visuals. Pictures and videos taken from the phones of users tell the story, with captions limited to 130 characters. The idea is that the captions and related tags give you the gist of what's going on without influencing your opinion on the news uploaded.
Since Onpublico is crowdsourced the news uploaded varies widely. The site's motto is "all news matters" and each user gets to decide the newsworthiness of a story. Uploaded stories are mapped, letting you see what's going on in the city without having to search through neighborhood tags or categories. Onpublico is currently in beta, so you'll have to request to use the site.
What's Driving This Trend
- Crowdsourced Visual Journalism
- The rise of crowdsourced microjournalism sites like Onpublico demonstrates the potential for visual storytelling to revolutionize news reporting.
- User-generated News
- The concept of turning citizens into photojournalists highlights the growing trend of user-generated content in the news industry.
- Mobile Journalism
- The use of smartphones as a primary tool for reporting news reflects the increasing reliance on mobile devices for media production.
Who This Affects Most
- News Media
- News organizations can explore partnerships with crowdsourced microjournalism sites to incorporate visual storytelling and engage with their audience in new ways.
- Technology
- The development of platforms like Onpublico presents opportunities for tech companies to create innovative tools and apps that facilitate mobile journalism and visual story creation.
- Social Media
- Social media platforms can leverage the rise of user-generated news by incorporating features that enable users to easily share and engage with visual news content.
