Crowdsourcing Video News: An Interview With StringersHub's Yakau Buta

In this interview StringersHub CEO Yakau Buta pictured at top describes the origin of his venture the most significant challenges to delivering quality accurate video footage and his company39s most prized achievements to dateErich Prince Describe how you came to run StringersHub Why the video side of newsYakau Buta Since I was young my life was closely associated with TV journalism and entrepreneurship When I already had a communication agency my foreign colleagues once asked me to organize a video shoot in Belarus my home country I agreed to help with pleasure After a successful broadcast the guys asked me to help them with video in another country The system gradually started to work and we created StringersHub a worldwide marketplace where we connect professional video freelancers and event witnesses with media buyers amp8212 for TV channels production studios and Internet broadcasters amp8212 who need video contentNow the platform has more than 10000 stringers and 500 clients worldwide including the world39s most popular television channels from ITV to Al Jazeera Media buyers can quickly send a video shooting assignment or find readytouse footage in the marketplaceHow does it work Eyewitnesses or professional videographers shoot interesting stories or realtime events they register and upload their video content to our platform and after media buyers purchase a video the stringer gets paid for itPrince What are some of the biggest challenges facing the procurement and distribution of video content in newsButa Our job is always challenging Mass media companies are fighting every second to be the first to provide breaking news content So we need to be even faster than the media It39s common that after accidents for example news sources share the same videos Our challenge is to give editors a choice from several videosBut the biggest challenge is the content39s factchecking As we get more and more video content every year we need to check it every time We also need to check for its exclusivity Our team checks every video that comes to the web platform manually However we39re starting to move toward technologies to help us with that Last year we launched a mobile app for stringers and eyewitnesses where the date and location of the videos are automatically verified via the appPrince How are those who submit content via StringersHub compensatedButa Stringers set the price for each video they upload and then they get paid every time the video is bought If it39s hard for stringers to set a price they can confer with our moderators at any time Our team can also advise them to raise or lower the price depending on the video There39s a chance that we39ll change or enhance the system a bit in the future amp8212 mainly due to partnerships with online video libraries So we39re open to new approachesPrince What are some of the videos submitted through your platform that appeared in the news that you are most proud ofButa We are proud of any video our clients are happy with For example one stringer recently shot the footage for ITV about children who are dying and being displaced at an unprecedented rate in Syria39s Idlib province the last big rebel stronghold in the country Among the most memorable and extreme shootings from stringers included videos of the 2019 terrorist attack at the Brazilian school in Suzano Samp227o Paulo stateWe39re very proud of an interview recorded with former Mexican president Felipe Calderamp243n as well as vox pop videos around the globe including about China We had a first interview with Russia foreign agent Maria Butina after she was released from prison and was flying from Miami back to Moscow We39ve had the first videos of many air disasters as well including in Kazakhstan Iran and Russia The list goes on and onPrince Can you describe the geographic range of where videos are coming fromButa We work with stringers in 193 countries So it39s easier to say videos are literally coming from all over the world including from dangerous and remote areas in the Middle East Asia and Africa Some districts are more active amp8212 some less so Many videos come from some of the poorest regions of the world where people need money and are therefore more motivated to collect footage and submit itPrince Lastly to paraphrase the investor Phil Fisher39s famous question what is your company doing that your competitors aren39t doing yetButa We transformed our weakness into our superpower Since we39re located far from the largest media companies amp8212 both geographically and mentally amp8212 we have to work harder and be more flexible than our competitors We don39t have a long history and powerful people behind us but we have a passionate desire to be the leaders in this area So we walk towards this aim stepbystepWe regularly offer free shootings for our loyal media buyers We also offer permanent free of charge inhouse producing and direct communication to stringers for every client We do not have any subscription fees while offering videos literally from all over the world Our platform works not only as a video news stock we also can quickly execute an order for media buyers based on their narrow requirements And we think of improving our platform every day making it as useful and convenient to our clients and stringers as possibleDon39t stop now Stay in the know with critical commentary on media news coverage from Erich Prince and News on the RecordClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Crowdsourcing Video News: An Interview With StringersHub's Yakau Buta

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Erich J. Prince

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Crowdsourcing Video News: An Interview With StringersHub's Yakau Buta

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