Bambuser and AP cement citizen content collaboration

We’re really proud to announce that we’ve cemented an agreement with the Associated Press to continue our joint efforts to bring instant video footage from citizen journalists around the globe to mainstream media.

After a successful joint development of the “share the news” opt-in function on the Bambuser platform, we’ve given eyewitnesses and AP’s own journalists an unparalleled opportunity to share newsworthy content in real time from their mobile phones.

All newsworthy video shared with AP is verified by AP’s social media specialists before being shared with a global audience via AP’s worldwide network of more than 700 broadcasters. The agreement also puts Bambuser’s live streaming ability in the hands of more AP journalists, increasing the agency’s commitment to Bambuser and the amount of live content AP can exclusively offer customers.

The deal follows five months of successful collaboration between AP and Bambuser, which has already given AP subscribers access to Bambuser ‘s growing number of content creators.  In the last four months Bambuser content has been used by AP customers more than 4,000 times – much of it from the front lines in the Syrian conflict, but increasingly from other parts of the world as well.

 “User-generated content is integral to covering breaking news events," said Mark Davies, AP deputy director of international video. "Through the Bambuser deal and use of the ‘Share The News’ function, AP has pre-approval to use the Bambuser content, allowing us to check and verify content we deem newsworthy and put it live to air incredibly fast."

Around the world unprecedented numbers of people are broadcasting live video to the Web. The probability of someone being at the scene with a smartphone when news breaks is increasing by the day. More and more Bambuser users are utilising their handheld devices to capture news stories to share on their blogs, on Twitter and Facebook, and on other social media.

“Through the co-operation with AP, Bambuser has further strengthened its position as a tool to capture live and newsworthy video content," said Hans Eriksson, executive chair, Bambuser. “We have already had enormous success working with AP in getting live news video distributed globally and this is because users can rely on AP’s expertise as a very credible and professional news organisation that matches many of Bambuser’s own values.”

Egypt non-profit media collective Mosireen launch crowd funding campaign to fuel citizen media initiatives

About a year ago, Jonas and Måns from the Bambuser team visited Cairo, Egypt to meet with Bambuser users and human rights activists and learn more about their every-day challenges and how they are using Bambuser to share live video from the unrest in the region.

It was a trip that provided a lot of insight and inspiration. Some of the insights even resulted in new features that eventually made it to our mobile broadcasting apps. It also brought a deeper understanding of how some of the networks on the ground are mobilizing their crowds and creating, gathering and publishing content online to provide the world with a richer understanding of the situation in Egypt.

One of these organizations is the non-profit media collective Mosireen. During the visit, the volunteers at Moisereen impressed with their skills, energy and creativity. By engaging "the people on the street" as well as making huge efforts to aggregate and publish their content online, we believe Mosireen make an important addition to traditional news and media reporting. The Mosireen workspace in Cairo is open to virtually everyone and the organization is relying on private donations to fuel their operations.

To continue their operations, they've now launched a fund raising campaign through an initiative at Indiegogo. The funds will mainly be used to support further operations and purchase of equipment.

Feel free to check it out!

Cheers!

Introducing our beautiful new app for iOS devices

Just in time for the Apple event September 12, we thought we should treat all iOS users with a little surprise!

Since this morning you will find a revamped version of our broadcasting app for iOS in the Appstore. After listening to a lot of your feedback, we adjusted the navigation, icons and graphics to make it even easier to understand and use the app. We think it’s a great improvement and we really hope you like it!

We will of course keep iterating and the next generation is actually already in the works. We would be happy and honored to get your feedback. Just send an email to support@bambuser.com with your thoughts and input.

Cheers!