We are all journalists now

Four men have been given life sentences for the attempted 21/7 London bombings.

One of the most memorable images of those events was of two of the plotters emerging from a block of flats in their underpants, hands up in the air, after a week on the run.

The footage wasn't filmed by a professional cameraman, but by an ordinary member of the public, who sold it to ITN.

Citizen journalism has completely changed the way we cover the news.

It's been driven by changes in technology. Many people carry around mobile phones that can now also take good quality photos and even video. Handy if the police raid a house on your street at 4am.

The phenomenon even has its own awards: http://www.citizenjournalismawards.co.uk/.

Sometimes people simply want to share their experiences. This happened after 7/7 and the Tsunami. During the recent rains in South Yorkshire, dozens of people offered me photos of their homes being flooded.

Its one of the first questions journalists now ask when we get to a story. Is there anyone locally who managed to take any pictures? It can affect the way we tell stories and in extreme cases, whether we tell them at all.

There's always fierce competition. For example, I was in Glasgow last week covering the attempted attack on the airport. Some newspapers were offering huge sums of money for pictures of the suspects.

Such pictures can give broadcasters a competitive edge and be worth huge sums of money to them. So should all contributors be paid?

This of course raises a number of issues. What risks will it encourage people to take? What about questions of privacy? A number of internet agencies, including www.scoopt.com, help amateur photographers sell their celebrity snaps to the tabloids.

I spoke to a school caretaker in Beeston following the 7/7 bombings. He told me that a journalist had offered him "a fortune" to break into his own school and steal a yearbook containing pictures of the bombers.

And then of course, there's the question of accuracy. When you're under pressure to get the story, how do you know that the pictures somebody is offering really are pictures of the right people?

There are potential pitfalls and the National Union of Journalists has launched a code of practice to address some of these concerns: http://www.nuj.org.uk/inner.php?docid=1208.

But citizen journalism can be very powerful, a way for people to contribute to and even influence the news agenda, surely no bad thing?

If you have any mobile phone images you want to send to Channel 4 News, our number is 07738 11 44 44. Alternatively send them to the email address: news@channel4.com.

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