10 reasons every freelance journalist should be using Verifeye Media
Verifeye Media is a news agency unlike any other. We are committed to “delivering news from the centre of the story.” We do this by verifying video and photographs at point of creation, using our iOS camera app (no Android yet, sorry), and then curating and delivering it to our clients, in real time. We are currently in beta, and today we launch our next stage of testing. We’ve already proved that our process works, so now we are stress testing our architecture as we start to scale.
As a result, we are accepting new contributors. If you are a freelance photojournalist, press photographer, filmmaker or videographer, here are some of the reasons you should join our beta programme;
1. We make you extra money. In a breaking news event, shoot some quick video or photos with our iPhone app and upload it to Verifeye Media. Our system is incredibly fast, so while everyone else is trying to edit and file, we’ve already verified your content and are pushing it to our clients, while you switch to DSLR or video camera.
2. We don’t have a subscription model, so no FATPOD*; you get 50% of every license we sell (less bank transfers). We currently charge £200 for standalone items and for collections, which means you get approximately £100 for each sale.
3. We pay you within 7 days of a sale (to be clear, this means that if we sell a license for your video today, you will get paid within a week, not in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or whenever accounts get around to it).
4. You don’t even have to bill us, as we self-bill, and we pay directly into your PayPal account.
5. Our system is automated, so as soon as we sell your content it appears on your sales report. This means there are no “Oh we must have missed that” excuses for unpaid usage.
6. We don’t negotiate on price. We’ve had some of the biggest names in the business tell us that £200 is more than they normally pay for content, before agreeing to pay it.
7. We don’t use any sub-agents or territorial agents, so there are no dodgy backroom deals that take a percentage of your money.
8. We are committed to chasing down infringements, and have already had payments from organizations that “didn’t realize they had to pay.”
9. We protect your identity. Many of our contributors are working in hostile environments, or under repressive regimes, so we maintain your anonymity. This also helps when dealing with possessive clients or desks who think they own you but don’t pay you a salary or retainer!
10. We market you to many more clients than you ever could yourself, especially if you are caught up in a breaking news situation. We handle the calls, the requests, the caption queries, and more, while you continue to make great videos and photos, which we will also market for you. What a beautiful relationship.
Our beta programme is now open for applications. Sign up at www.verifeyemedia.com
* FATPOD — Free At The Point Of Delivery - a derogatory term used by many freelancers when referring to the traditional subscription based news services, from which content is often used due to it’s perceived lack of cost rather than it’s editorial merit.
