Because we have links with major media buyers the world over, Demotix can broker your photos and videos to newspapers, magazines, TV channels and websites, multiple times and simultaneously.

Basic, non-exclusive rights to your photos will sell for anything between $50 and $3,000 USD. We sell exclusive rights for whatever we can get. And some photos and videos can go for $100,000s.

In all cases, you get exactly 50%.

The details are here Terms of Use and here Terms of Business, but basically:

• you retain the copyright
• we broker them across all spaces
• we split the fee
  

It's Easy

Demotix is designed for you to take it over - we're a platform, not a publisher. So we're trying to make the whole process of logging on, creating news, navigating, and sharing as simple as possible. And the only details that we ask of you are those that will help us pay you if your image is licensed.

Tell your story to the world

Demotix has an extensive, global and extremely varied distribution network which means that your work can be seen (and licensed) by all of the mainstream media, all over the world, all the time. We've got links from Newsweek to al-Sharqiya (Iraq's biggest TV channel), and they're growing!

You keep the copyright

All the time, forever, and always. With your permission, we license your images for specific uses. At all times, you keep the copyright and the right to remove your images from our website whenever you want.

50:50 split

You take the images, we get them out there. Simple. And a better deal for you than pretty much anywhere else. We need the 50% to keep our show on the road. You need your 50% - we imagine - to do the same.

Money the opposite of microstock

Together, we're generating fantastic editorial images and video. Street Journalist, Amateur, Professional, camera-phone or 12MB wonder-photo we sell everything at professional rates. When it comes to sales, we don't care who you are of where you're from. We're raising Street Journalists to professional rates (comparable and competitive with all the big, established newswires and photo agencies) because that's what your material is worth. In number terms, that means your non-exclusive images will sell for anywhere between $150 - 3,000; and your videos will sell for $500-1,000 / minute. Exclusives? The sky is the limit.

Simple payment

We like to keep things simple and straightforward. That's why we don't have complicated systems for calculating how much and when we pay you. If your image is licensed, we'll pay you half of the fee as soon as possible, but always within 60 days.

We have no editorial policy or agenda

Obviously. Demotix is yours. Do with it what you will! It's your site, your story, and your community.

Demotix is a community

Please make friends with each other. And please make friends with us. You'll find our emails and our own profiles on the About Us section of the site.

Grow with us

We're getting bigger and better. Our improved website will provide tools to make image upload easy, and reports that let you see how many times your images have been viewed. You'll be able to customise, adapt, create, reinvent pretty much all the interesting bits of the site. Who else gives advice on everything from how to take marketable pictures through to how to stay safe by protecting your anonymity as a Street Journalist?

Professional

Demotix may be new, but we already licensed your images all over the world - with front pages in the New York Times, the Guardian, and elsewhere.

Demotix was founded on the cross-roads of activism and journalism, with two principles in mind.

1. FREEDOM OF SPEECH
To give the man and (often more importantly) woman on the street a voice. Whether they're in Azerbaijan or Zanzibar. A space where they can tell their stories, build communities, and get their news out to the world. We see Demotix standing on the barricades of free speech and civil society. It was founded to do that.

2. FREEDOM TO KNOW
To get that information out to the increasingly emasculated, empty, repetitive, biased and under-funded mainstream media. There are, today, only 4 US newspapers with a foreign desk. And even AP and Reuters fail to cover 40% (!) of the world with a single staffer... At our most globalised, we know increasingly little about the rest of the world. Together, we can change that. Together, we can have build news communities, and source stories and news from every corner of the globe. We can change the way news is gathered, and we can change what's on the front pages of every newspaper and broadcast worldwide.

Remember all those pictures of the London bombings, of the Tsunami, of the monks in Burma? They were all taken by people who just happened to be there at the time and managed to snap a picture with their mobile phone or a camera. They are what we call 'street journalists'. You seeing those images is called 'citizen journalism'.

What we do is to take those pictures and videos and host them. And then we take those images and videos and pump them out to the traditional media (newspapers, magazines, TV channels, news programmes, etc...).

Why?

Because we figured out:

1. That this thing called 'citizen journalism' had enormous potential power:

If we can do it properly and safely (and we have spent a lot of time figuring that out), Demotix can provide a megaphone to the man and woman in the street anywhere in the world. Demotix takes absolutely no political stance except the right to freedom of speech. And in many countries around the world, we make freedom of speech available.

2. That journalism - old-fashioned reporting from the ground - is dying:

Let us give you some unpleasant statistics:

• Only four US newspapers maintain a foreign desk. They are the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the LA Times (which is going through a huge restructure and may not be long for this list). That is four newspapers with reporters dedicated to covering the rest of the world in a country of over 300 million people. That's 4, four, 2+2.
• There are - for the same country of 300 million - only 141 foreign correspondents in the print and broadcast media. If you don't believe us, check here and bear in mind that was in 2007, so it's probably less now.
• The BBC - by a country mile the best news service in the world for depth, breadth and standards - had (before this Olympic excitement) only one correspondent for the whole of northern China, and that includes Beijing (which, for the record, has over 18 million inhabitants alone).
• Reuters and the Associated Press - who have replaced the foreign correspondent everywhere - provide a wire/agency service to almost all of the world's serious news media. They are for most newspapers and broadcasters the only source of international news. And - amazingly - they don't have a single staffer in 40 per cent of the world's countries.
• Because there are so few real journalists anymore, the few still out there have to do many times more work. What that means is simple: they are forced to do it badly. A Cardiff University study of the four British broadsheets (this one included) found that they took up to half their news direct from press releases. (and it gets worse if you look here). And the same, roughly, with the big four US newspapers too.

We could go on for a long time about this - the impact big business margins have had on traditional news gathering, how the internet has changed the game, the miserable life of a stringer... but the point stands. We've been lamenting the demise of serious investigative reporting for 30 years. We're now looking at the demise of reporting full stop.

So What?

So we thought we could put the two together:

• Bolstering the ever-embattled media's attempts to get access to real news from around the world.
• Thereby also ensuring that the voice of the little guy (whether they're in Abergavenny or Zimbabwe) gets a say.

And we've created what - we hope - is a dead simple site that allows people to upload news (archival, breaking, cultural, political, sporting, environmental, plain strange...), search for it, and comment on it.

Demotix is really all yours , so we feel sort of silly putting our names up here, but here we are anyhow, just so you know who we are! .

Turi Munthe is the CEO. He's English-French-Swedish and was brought up in London. He's been a publisher, editor, policy analyst, lecturer, journalist and talking head for CNN, BBC, NBC, al-Jazeera, Asahi, Reuters, Sky, you name it, and he has written for The Economist, Slate.com, the FT, the Telegraph, the Nation and many others. He has lived in the US, Syria, Israel, Nepal, Spain and France, studied at Oxford University, the Hebrew University and NYU, and speaks Italian, French, Spanish and Arabic (pretty badly). He's given lectures on Iran to the Central Communist Party of China, and on erotica to the ICA. His one book is the (retrospectively quite gruesome) Saddam Hussein Reader, and he lives in London with the mother of his two children. tm {at) demotix . com - profile name: Turim

Jonathan Tepper is the COO. He is frozen in time on Google as a very blonde and very nerdy 22-yr-old Rhodes Scholar - and hasn't changed much. He graduated with highest honours in History and Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then went on to do his M.Litt at Oxford in Modern History (which is where Turi and he met). Jonathan's background is in finance: he has worked at SAC Capital, at Lehman Brothers and Bank of America. Jonathan is American, but was brought up in Spain and Mexico, and is a Trustee of Asociacion Betel in Britain. He can also do a handstand from the lotus position, has a near-photographic memory, and speaks Mediaeval Spanish (only useful in Sefardic retirement homes in Brooklyn). jonathan {at) demotix . com - profile name: jtepper2

Rob Butterworth is Joint-CTO. Rob began his Internet career when the Information highway was a two lane track. Over the last 12 years he has held positions ranging from senior programmer for a high-end software boutique to CTO for $1 billion/year financial firm and has led high profile projects for clients such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Macy’s, Neiman-Marcus and Bloomingdale’s to name just a few. After losing his wife in a battle with cancer, Rob left the world of 70 hr. weeks and power lunches to move his family to Boulder, Colorado where he has taken what he has learned in the Fortune 500 world and applies it to his work today with Demotix. He has 3 daughters, 6 sisters, and can - like Jonathan - do a handstand from the lotus position. rob {at) demotix . com - profile name: admin

Alex McFadyen is Joint-CTO. An Englishman in Madrid, he was lured from his native isle by the better wine and weather. Previously, he attended the University of East Anglia to study computing and poker (artificial intelligence) and then went to work for the Associated Press at their electronic news production system team inside the BBC in London. After leaving the AP, and a brief trip to Japan, he became a "senior developer for hire" working for design and consultancy firms around the world. He is a dedicated OpenSource advocate who will have you using Firefox and OpenOffice in no time. Alex - surprisingly for an Englishman - also makes a fine California Roll. alex {at) demotix . com - profile name: admin

Andy Heath is Commissioning Editor, and responsible for encouraging the entire world to post the most amazing, inspiring images and news to Demotix. He came to Demotix direct from Oxford University, where he studied History and Politics and edited the Oxford Student newspaper. In 2007 he led an expedition to Mongolia to study political behaviour among rural nomads; his report is awaiting publication.

The Editorial Team

Adrian Cottrell is Regional Editor for South America. Adrian is Spanish-English and was raised in North West London. He is a recent European Studies and Modern Languages graduate of the University of Bath, and has lived and studied at the University of Sienna and the University Complutense of Madrid. Adrian has a jamon serrano problem nobody seems able to treat.

Ed Hadfield is Regional Editor for South Asia. Ed was born in Hackney, but emigrated to the Sussex country side. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Politics, and is working for Demotix because of their endless supply of espressos and biscuits (oh and the freedom of speech thing is good too).

Federico Benedetti is Regional Editor for Europe. Federico was born and raised in Brussels from Italian parents. He studied International Relations at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and just finished a Master at SOAS University of London in International Studies & Diplomacy. He's passionate about electronic music and will listen for hours to dark, cold, repetitive beats. If he has a choice, he'd like to come back in his next life as an avocado.

Thierry Sienche is Regional Editor for Africa. Originally from Cameroon, Thierry has lived all over the world, and studied International Human Rights Law at SOAS, University of London. He is a teetotal sports obsessive, who loves video games and hopes that one day Africa can be shown to the world as a place where expression really is free.

The Wider Team

Gandi supports Demotix and hosts our website. Gandi was created in 1999 to provide an honest and transparent service for domain name buyers that was a credible alternative to the mass-market players in the US that dominated the industry. Gandi seeks to put the customer first, provide services that are fairly priced and with excellent customer service. It never advertises, but relies on its customers to be its advocates, ploughing this saving back into product development and service. Gandi supports like-minded companies seeking to shake the status quo, and chose Demotix because it recognises its desire to reshape the role of modern journalism.

Very Studios designed the Demotix site, and continues to drive all our visual cues. Founded 4-5 yrs ago by the dashing Alex Smith...

Pentagram , regarded as one of the leading multidisciplinary design consultancies anywhere in the world, designed the Demotix logo.

What is news at Demotix?

News is information about recent events or happenings. These can be military, political, social, cultural or even human interest. News can consist of eyewitness accounts, analysis of current events based on original work and opinion pieces.

Who can upload photos and videos, and write stories?

Anyone who registers with Demotix can write a story. In many countries and environments citizen journalists are not safe. You may remain anonymous if you wish.

What is my contributor profile for?

Your background can give your stories greater depth and credibility. For example, if you live in Baghdad and are giving an eyewitness account, tell us about yourself. Share your background, ideas and interests with other users.

Will Demotix ever delete any photos, videos or articles?

Demotix will not edit your remarks, but it reserves the right to delete stories that are violent, pornographic, racist, offensive, slanderous, or libelous. We encourage members of the Demotix community to flag offensive content.

Who can comment on stories?

Anyone can comment on stories posted on Demotix. Debate should always be free and open.

Are you planning future developments?

Demotix is still a work in progress. We hope the site will continue to grow and develop through the input of our community. Let us know what you like, what you don't like, or what you wish we had. We're going to keep adding more features, but we want to know what could make this site better.

Should I share Demotix?

We believe in the wisdom of the crowds. News becomes more accurate the more people there are reporting on it; if someone makes a mistake we're more likely to catch it if everyone is on. We all have different insights, and that makes for richer news. The world is connected through six degrees of separation (actually, for most people is usually fewer), so when you join Demotix, we hope you will invite you friends and they will invite their friends.

We are named after Demotic, the form of writing used and most easily understood by the man in the Alexandrian street in 200 BC. The word 'demotic', meaning 'of the people', is still used to refer to the language of the people; today, it describes the modern language spoken by everyday Greeks.

In choosing a new name for the company, we were inspired by this ancient language. Our aim is to open up journalism to the people in the modern age, just as the demotic script opened up writing in ancient Egypt.