Can I get a witness? The Guardian and 4G network EE have teamed up to create GuardianWitness, a new outlet for citizen journalists to send in their on-the-spot pictures and videos.
GuardianWitness is a user-generated content platform, which allows you to submit your eyewitness pictures, videos and text to The Guardian from anywhere in the world online or through apps on your phone or tablet.
The Guardian wants you to get involved even if you don’t happen to have witnessed any earthshaking events while popping out to the shops for some milk and a Curly Wurly. Those loveable lefties set specific assignments, inviting you to send in pictures and videos around a particular theme.
Assignments right now include subjects from sleeping pets and views of tall buildings to more serious fare, such as your photos that illustrate the impact of recent government cuts, or submissions from refugees and aid workers in Syria.
The site also wants to help you improve your videos with a series of tips, starting today with a guide to lighting.
To submit, you need an account, which could be either an existing Guardian account or your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Then you simply send your eyewitness accounts of unfolding events to witness.guardian.co.uk, or through free
iPhone or Android apps from your smart phone or tablet. Submissions can be geotagged, adding location data from your computer or mobile device.
If selected by The Guardian‘s editorial team, your submissions will appear on The Guardian website or in The Guardian or Observer newspapers. Video submissions will also flicker to life on a new GuardianWitness YouTube channel.
I had a letter printed in the Heswall Globe and Argus (incorporating the Thingwall Blunderbuss) once, but it’s not really the same thing. Have you ever carried out an act of citizen journalism? What’s the most newsworthy thing you’ve ever witnessed? Tell us your story in the comments or stop the presses on our Facebook page.