This startup wants Uber drivers to help deliver breaking news footage
Your next Uber driver could deliver you and some breaking news.
An Australian startup aims to enlist drivers in the delivery of real-time news footage. First reported by the Financial Review, NewsCar aims to help newsrooms get first access to exclusive footage.
Uber drivers can be found all over the city, so when an event occurs, the company will help news networks direct nearby members to the scene. From there, they can shoot TV-ready footage from their smartphone using its purpose-built app.
The idea is there are thousands of cameras out there in pockets and on dashboards, but no one's making use of them. NewsCar will help newsrooms get breaking news footage quickly, and in the right high definition, widescreen formats.
Thanks to streaming services, free-to-air networks are concentrating on local news as a point of difference, founder and former journalist Adam Walters said over email.
"So many stories begin with a picture and ride share drivers are ubiquitous -- tech savvy, on the move and easy to identify via global positioning technology," he added. "Perfectly placed to deliver vision from the scenes of breaking stories WHEN the newsrooms actually want the vision."
According to its website, NewsCar's "First Response" offering will be followed by "NewsCar Pro," which will help newsrooms find the closest available professional videographers.
It's unlikely police or victims of a crime would appreciate Uber drivers cum paparazzi getting in the way, but Walters said the website's tutorials and terms and conditions will lay out the responsibilities of both driver and newsroom.
"Obviously we would want the safety of all concerned to be paramount," he added. "The application is a conduit...a means of connecting drivers, their cameras and newsrooms. Both end users will agree to take responsibility for their respective actions when they sign-up."
In any case, they'll get paid. A non-professional videographer may make around A$200 ($150.95) for up to two hours of work. Newsrooms will be charged A$300 ($227.46).
Les Johnson, the secretary of Ride Share Drivers Association of Australia (RSDAA), a group that represents a "few thousand" drivers for Uber and other services, is working with NewsCar. He said his members would get first-dibs on NewsCar jobs.
"When they register through the app, if the job becomes available, our people will get the first bite of the cherry," he said.
Johnson saw NewsCar as an exciting opportunity for drivers and dismissed concerns the app might put drivers, inexperienced with shooting in potentially violent or chaotic situations, in any danger.
"I don't think that will be the case," he said. "With any situation like this, it will be up to the driver to use his own discretion.
Currently undergoing beta testing, the company aims to roll out in the U.S., the UK, and Australia. It will launch in Sydney on April 26.
Social news companies like Storyful regularly license smartphone-shot footage, but NewsCar would be unique in putting users under newsroom direction, as well as in supplying the app.
"We know established networks and mastheads are very keen to exploit their incumbency as trusted news brands to deal with the challenges presented by social media entities that are yet to consolidate their reputations as trusted sources," Walters added.
It comes as News Corp Australia announced prospective job cuts, with the photography department said to be hardest hit.
Uber has been approached for comment.
UPDATE: April 13, 2017, 2:22 p.m. AEST NewsCar comment added.
Topics Apps & Software
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
