But is it a revolution?

Whenever we talk about user generated content, the subject of July 7 usually comes up. At the time of the bombings it is said that one BBC executive sat at home watching the user generated images streaming onto the news and declared, "this is a revolution".  But what kind of revolution is it?

Back in the late 1970s I was a teenager contributing to my BBC local radio station output. Along with a number of other citizens, I would take my tape recorder out and capture anything that might be of interest. BBC Radio Leeds, my station, also employed the talents or Harry Gration as sports reporter and Frank Pagden as religious  producer among other "citizens" (most of whom became professional).

We used to make full use of the radio car - it would be out on the streets everyday and whenever a story  broke the reporter would round up citizen eye witnesses who would describe what they saw or experienced.

My point is that the excitement around user generated content, expressed by the aforementioned BBC executive, is a very London centric response. My esteemed network colleagues seems less aware than most that UGC has been the lifeblood of local broadcasting for a very long time.

Viewers who send in footage are doing so by way of an eye witness account; Instead of describing what they witnessed, they are now able to show what they witnessed. But I don't think this is a quantum leap. I also think that the range of material offered in this way is very narrow - focusing, as it does, on fires, floods and explosions.

This is not to say that what we are seeing isn't revolutionary. It is true that whenever  something happens there will most likely be a citizen to record it - such has been the impact of technology. The professionals to feel the impact of this shift most are probably the news camera teams who may not be the first on the scene. (Mark W)