fergbell

I was a producer for AP Television News. I started getting into this new social media thing because I thought it looked interesting and I'm a bit of a geek. Then the protests in Egypt happened and I started putting what I had learnt into practice for newsgathering. Those skills only became more valuable and now it is my full time job.

It really depends where UGC is uploaded. Many platforms have different policies regarding content ownership. In many cases though copyright is retained by the person who captured the content and uploaded it. We just think it is right to ask someone for permission to use their content and so that is what we strive to do. Beyond the issue of ownership and copyright it is also important for us to identify an original source as part of our verification. Making contact with that person allows us to get further information and evaluate the authenticity.

Hello DOG. Didn't realize you were on Reddit.

I think all of these platforms where people are sharing newsworthy information are important. As a journalist I would always want to be finding the places where people are talking about breaking news. As Eric said, we have a lot of information coming to us from many places on any breaking news story and everything is processed by fact checking using our established procedures. That might be Reddit, but it might be a phone call or an email.

It really depends on the method that is quickest for getting hold of them. We always prefer to speak to someone on the phone. That is the ultimate goal.