The photo agency Citizenside and the certification of collaborative images

Abstract

The essay examines a case study of Citizenside, a citizen journalism agency launched in France in 2006 to provide photographs and videos, to consider the changing production of news images. Citizenside makes the audience contribute to professional circuits: it defines its strategy as an inclusion of “end-users” themselves, and it claims not to compete with mainstream media. Yet the agency has close links with traditional media platforms, as revealed by the partnership with the well-known international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP acquired 34% of Citizenside's shares). With respect to their quality and verification, based on professional standards, the photographs provided by Citizenside's contributors should be called “collaborative journalism” rather than “amateur” content.