Associated Press launches citizen media deal

The Associated Press and NowPublic.com have agreed to a partnership where NowPublic.com will allow Associated Press to use photographs, video and news from "citizen journalists" in its newsgathering operation. NowPublic.com, a Vancouver, Canada-based startup, posts citizens' images and news accounts on its Web site, along with links to mainstream news organizations. Though many details of the partnership have yet to be ironed out, the AP may use certain NowPublic.com contributors to help gather news on "anything from a major storm to even some Iraq angle." NowPublic.com members will be compensated and, depending on the nature of their contributions, credited for their work. You can read more about it here.

NowPublic boasts more than 60,000 contributing "reporters" in more than 140 countries and promises to quickly locate potential witnesses or news gatherers close to breaking events ranging from everything from natural disasters to terrorist attacks.