Adding to this: multiple mainstream networks that asked for permission to use my footage went silent or said they were no longer interested when I told them there is a fee to license my content. And so they just didn’t report on it... (continued)
I turned down Storyful, who offer indie journalists a rev share (which we can’t track) so that they can sell licensing of our content to nearly every major outlet that purchases content from them. It’s a bad deal to those of us who are risking a lot out there in the field...
CNN went around using my footage by writing an article & listed me as an unnamed “independent journalist” linking to my video on Twitter, which is legal. The kicker was the article stated they couldn’t confirm if it was police or feds... but neither reporter reached out to me. 🤦♂️
It’s concerning to me that major networks would rather not report a big story if it requires them to pay anything out of pocket...even if it’s a fraction of what it would be if they had sent in a crew.
Let me be clear, I do this because I’m passionate about covering the truth. This is not about money for me. But if you’re a multi-billion dollar company and you’re gonna profit off my stuff, then yeah, I deserve to be paid for it.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.