Look Ahead: Ideas into Photos

By: Nu Yang

With the Pew Research Center recently reporting that 56 percent of American adults now own smartphones, it makes sense that a company like Scoopshot would want to connect media companies with mobile users.

Scoopshot is a free mobile application available on Apple and most Android devices that allows photos and videos to be uploaded and shared. Users are required to register in order to manage accounts and payments. That’s right—you earn money with every photo and video that is bought. Photos start at a flat $5 fee and users get $2.50 every time the image is purchased, although according to executive vice president Dave Rickley, there may be other variables such as exclusive purchases or unique images where a media company wants to pay more.

Scoopshot is developed and run by P2S Media Group Inc. in Helsinki, Finland. First launched in 2011, Scoopshot made its way to the U.S. last year. Rickley manages all business relationships, strategies and sales operations in the North American market. With a career spanning more than 30 years, he held a number of senior management and editorial positions at the Los Angeles Times. Working with Rickley as a Scoopshot agent is another former longtime Times employee, former executive editor and managing editor Leo Wolinsky.

Both men said what attracted them to Scoopshot was its ability to help media companies reach mobile customers. Wolinsky said it was an opportunity for him to “take on a new task and get involved with another aspect in media.”

Rickley said what makes Scoopshot unique is its ability to send tasks to people. For example, he said if a media company wanted photos from a local event, the company could send out a task (a request for photos). Through GPS, Scoopshot users in the area would get a push notification that a task was available. Photos and videos would then uploaded to that task’s specific gallery and could be purchased.

Scoopshot has an authenticity system in place that records the information, such as time and location, for each photo and video. Sources are also verified through the app. Media subscriptions are also offered to companies who pay a monthly fee to access the Scoopshot store and have access to give tasks to professional photographers. Advertisers can use Scoopshot to showcase their product or host photo contests.

According to Rickley, Scoopshot is being used by more than 280,000 mobile users around the world with 50 global media partners. “My goal is to build a crowd,” he said, hoping that one day, there would be millions of Scoopshot users.

Wolinsky said he would like to see Scoopshot adapted by more news organizations. “(They) need to do different things to bring readers back and that depends on how engaged they are and their sense of community.”  

For more information, visit scoopshot.com.