Demotix

Demotix was a photo agency[1] that enabled freelance photojournalists to license their photos to mainstream media organisations, charities, and stock image buyers.[2]

Demotix
Type of site
Pictures, Videos, News, Journalism, Image Sales
Headquarters
London, UK
OwnerCorbis Images
CommercialYes
LaunchedJanuary 2009 (2009-01)

Initially conceived as a free speech platform to allow local journalists to report their own stories to a global audience, the company was launched in January 2009 by CEO Turi Munthe (Founder Parlia) and COO Jonathan Tepper and was based in London, UK.[3]

History

Demotix opened in beta in July 2008 and launched publicly in January 2009.[4] The agency was previously to be known as "Nyouz", but this name was discarded in favour of Demotix.[5]

Since its foundation, Demotix has announced partnership agreements with a variety of other news organisations, including Global Voices Online,[6] the Press Association,[7] and Corbis Images.[8] Demotix has also partnered with The Huffington Post,[9] The Daily Telegraph[10] and Le Monde[11] as well as Future TV[12] in Lebanon, the Himalayan Times[13] and elsewhere around the globe.

In August 2011, Demotix CEO Turi Munthe announced that it had accepted an undisclosed investment from Corbis, following on from the media distribution agreement the two companies had arrived at in March of the same year.[14]

Demotix was acquired by Corbis Corporation in November 2012.[15] Shortly thereafter editor-in-chief Corey Pein quit in protest of Corbis's treatment of freelance photographers.[16]

Notable stories and scoops

Demotix has been particularly successful at covering news the mainstream media cannot reach, and came to prominence with its user-generated reporting from the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict,[17][18] and its in-depth coverage of the G20 protests in London including an image of Ian Tomlinson who died at the event.[19][20][21]

Iran elections

In June 2009, during protests over the disputed presidential election in Iran, the Iranian government imposed sanctions on all foreign media, preventing them from documenting the protests.[22] However, Demotix contributors, based in Iran, defied this media crackdown to upload hundreds of images onto the Demotix website illustrating the violent street-battles and civil unrest.[23] The strategy delivered in Iran, with Demotix offering pictures that can’t be matched by the mainstream media. The coverage was syndicated by a number of agencies such as Reuters, Agence France Presse, European Pressphoto Agency, The New York Times, the UK's The Daily Telegraph, El Pais and a range of other newspapers.

On Wednesday, June 17, Demotix reported one of its reporters had been arrested and his camera seized in Iran.[24] On Thursday, June 25, Demotix commissioning editor Andy Heath reported, "We've just heard that the Demotix contributor who was arrested last week by the Iranian police will not face further remember inquiries and has had his camera returned to him by officials."[25]

On Saturday, June 20, Demotix received some of the only photos of the violence in Tehran, where authorities were shown to use tear gas against protesters.[26] These images were licensed to a number of outlets, including US newspaper The New York Times, the UK's The Daily Telegraph and Spain's El Pais.

The 9/11 Wars

Demotix continues to receive contributions from countries that became the focus of military intervention, invasion, or Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity in the years following the September 11, 2001 attacks, including Afghanistan,[27] Iraq[28] and Pakistan[29]

2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings

Participants in and observers of the Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have uploaded content to Demotix. Contributions were submitted from countries including Egypt,[30] Tunisia[31] and Libya[32] in North Africa.

In the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, there were submissions from Yemen[33] and Bahrain.[34]

2011 Norway attacks

Among the first on the scene of the bombs detonated in central Oslo in July 2011 were Demotix contributors, capturing some graphic images of the aftermath of the explosions. Their photos were among the first to show that the bombs had had fatal casualties.[35][36][37]

2011 UK riots

Many photographers submitted their images of the rioting that broke out across the UK in August 2011,[38] as well as material illustrating the spontaneous cleanup movements which followed them.

The agency also noted in blog posts that several contributors had come under attack by rioters.[39][40]

Sale of Corbis Images to Visual China Group, January 2016.

On January 22, 2016, all pages at the Demotix website were redirected to the home page of Corbis Images, where an announcement and some FAQs about the sale of Corbis Images to Visual China Group appeared. Simultaneously Visual China Group/Getty announced on their websites the acquisition of Corbis Images by VCG and the licensing arrangement with Getty.

Awards and recognition

Demotix has won or been nominated for numerous awards.[41]

The agency won the Media Guardian Innovation Award for Independent Media in 2009.[42] The agency was also awarded a British Airways Opportunity Grant in 2010,[43] a Webby award in the "News" category in 2011[44] and was nominated to the TechMedia Invest 100 2009.[45]

Demotix has been nominated at the SXSW Awards 2009, in the Community and People's Choice categories, the Mashable Open Web Awards 2009 in the Political News category, and the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism, 2009.[41]

Controversy

Demotix came under criticism in the United Kingdom by the National Union of Journalists and UK Press Card Authority for issuing its own press pass that was similar in design to the official UK press card, but not recognised by the official bodies and without the same checks or criteria for issuing one.[46]

Demotix defended their decision saying "We've verified each and every one, they've written 10 or more stories. We're careful about the people we accredit, we're responsible".[47]

References
  1. Demotix – About Us
  2. "Coverage From". Demotix. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  3. "The Future of Online Journalism". Online Journalism Blog. May 13, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  4. Demotix (August 1, 2008). "Telegraph – Why Citizen Journalism Matters". London: Blogs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  5. Demotix (December 17, 2008). "Telegraph.co.uk – Demotic, the language of the people". London: Blogs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  6. Corbis Images and Demotix form partnership (March 9, 2011). "Journalism.co.uk – Demotix and Global Voices strike content partnership". Editorsweblog.org. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  7. "British Journal of Photography – Press Association to distribute Demotix' images". Bjp-online.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  8. "British Journal of Photography – Demotix goes mainstream with Corbis deal". Bjp-online.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  9. "G20 Protests". Huffington Post. March 30, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  10. "Telegraph Blogs – Demotix". London: Blogs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  11. Andrews, Robert (April 23, 2009). "Le Monde Taking Cit-J Reportage from Demotix". Paid Content. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  12. "Future News". Future-news.tv. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  13. "The Himalayan Times". The Himalayan Times. December 4, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  14. "British Journal of Photography – Corbis Invests in Demotix". Bjp-online.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  15. "Corbis Acquires Crowd-Sourced Photo Agency Demotix, After Its Move Into Apps". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  16. "Top 5 Reasons I Quit My Job – Corey Pein". coreypein.net. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  17. "TechCrunch – Direct from the Streets of Gaza". Uk.techcrunch.com. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  18. "La ofensiva sobre Gaza también se vive en las redes sociales". El Pais. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  19. "Citizen news wire Demotix makes front page with Tomlinson image". Journalism.co.uk. April 14, 2009. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  20. Elaine Díaz Rodríguez. "Demotix entre los ganadores de los Mediaguardian Innovation Awards 2009". Periodismo Ciudadano. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  21. Weaver, Anna M. "Man collapses and dies during G20 protests". Demotix.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  22. Fathi, Nazila (June 24, 2009). "The New York Times – Updates from Iran". The New York Times. Iran. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  23. "Iran Election Hub". Demotix. December 17, 2011. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  24. "Reporter Arrested in Iran". Demotix. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  25. "Demotix blog – Good News from Iran". Demotix.com. June 25, 2009. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  26. Kevin Anderson (June 22, 2009). "Citizen Media in Iran". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  27. "all stories from Afghanistan". Demotix. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  28. "all stories from Iraq". Demotix. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  29. "all stories from Pakistan". Demotix. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  30. "The Egyptian Revolution". Demotix. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  31. "The Tunisian Revolution". Demotix. November 17, 1976. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  32. "Libya War". Demotix. Archived from the original on April 12, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  33. "Yemen Protests". Demotix. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  34. "all stories from Bahrain". Demotix. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  35. Lunde, Andreas H. "Explosion in an Oslo government building, Norway". Demotix. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  36. "Oslo explosion – July 22 as it happened". The Daily Telegraph. UK. July 22, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  37. "Norway terror attacks hub". Demotix.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  38. "England Riots 2011". Demotix. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  39. "Demotix blog – staying safe in the Tottenham riots". Demotix.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  40. "Demotix blog – attacks on photographers in the London riots". Demotix.com. August 17, 2011. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  41. "Press Room". Demotix. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  42. "Media Guardian Innovation Awards". Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  43. "British Airways UK Opportunity Grant competition winners". The Daily Telegraph. UK. January 28, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  44. "15th Annual Webby Awards Official Honoree Selections". Webbyawards.com. October 28, 2011. Archived from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  45. "TechMedia Invest 100 2009". The Guardian. UK. September 13, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  46. . National Union of Journalists https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/uk-press-card-body-warns-of-amateur-media-pass/. Retrieved December 29, 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  47. "Demotix website defends issue of press passes". The Guardian. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
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