A new hourlong show by ABC (DIS) is seeking to reinvent the news for the new generation of people that are used to citizen journalism being a part of their lives.
The network is soliciting user-generated video, amateur video it can use on its new show called "i-Caught." The show is scheduled to start on Aug. 6 and will air on Monday nights at 10pm. If it catches on they plan on returning it in midseason.
According to Variety, executive producer David Sloan said the stories offered will include "breaking news; celebrity journalism; investigations; and stories of politics, crime, Internet hoaxes or just the moments of everyday life."
"The watershed event that changed newsgathering was the London terror attack in 2005," Sloan said. "There were people on that subway who did not know if they would live or die, but they got out their cell phones and started shooting."
Probably the greatest challenge, but also possibilities for the show, will be never knowing what it is that will be offered up by those with stories and video to share. To ensure that there will be continuity and enough content, ABC News journalists will also be creating content for video that has gone viral around the Web from other sites.
"Everyone is becoming a hunter and gatherer for the news business," Sloan said. "There is this whole interesting world of images and people; things that make you mad, make you worry or make you laugh. We want to explore all of that world."
Whether or not this catches on for ABC, this will be a lot of the future of the emerging convergence of media platforms and amateur and professional media.
Amateur video uploading sites have shown that people want the story and coverage more than better looking pictures. I would be surprised if this isn't a hit for ABC. It has a lot of possibilities for cross-platform interaction as well.
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