It’s web 2.0 for news. msnbc.con launched the first salvo today by publishing a “photosynth” of an Obama stop. Unlike traditional photosynth, it is an aggregation of images by one photographer and it sorts of defeats the purpose of the technology. A real one would have included thousands of images taken from different angles at different times. But the idea, and the effort is there.
Cnn.com, not to be outdone, is planning one for the inauguation. It is asking its users to send their images so they can be mashed up into a giant photosynth. Maybe they will pull out some images of Flickr. The result, should it be vastly followed, could be very interresting.
Albeit still in reasearch mode, this is the first time, in my knowledge, that a major news outlet will be using user generated content to create an exclusive rendition of a news event. It beats anything an agency can provide and will have some unexpected results. Furthermore, it will entice spectators to be actors in informing the world of a specific historical event.
It was we said all along, photojournalism is not dying, it is just evolving..
Update : MSNBC.com posted a photosynth made of wire service images and a couple of hired guns… Its the “non social” version of social journalism.
