As camera phones have become more popular we are seeing more and more television news programs and newspapers using amateur footage in their coverage of stories. Often the general public can capture images straight away and give almost live pictures of breaking news as it happens.
Initially the media were sceptical about distributed journalism but after the stories captured on camera during events such as the London bombings in July 2005 and the Buncefield oil depot fire this type of journalism has become the norm.
To recognise this new form of journalism Nokia and Press Gazette are launching the Citizen Journalism awards and will be giving away a Nokia N90 to the person submitting the best piece of mobile phone journalism from the past 12 months.
To qualify you must not be a professional journalist and the news must have been published online. The awards run for the next two months and will be judged by a panel of experts inclding John Snow and journalists from CNN and the BBC.
Current entries include pictures from the 7/7/ London bombings as well as footage of a knife weilding maniac in London and a pub seige from 2005.
For more information and to enter the competition please visit the official website at the link below.
More details: www.citizenjournalismawards.co.uk
