Remember Scoopt? It was a 'citizen journalist' agency that acted as a broker for newsworthy photos taken on mobile phones. Scoopt launched in 2005 and two years later was bought by Getty Images. However, the business was closed last year when Getty Images decided to focus on its core business.
Now there's a new company looking for images and videos from observant members of the public. Fizwoz launched quietly at the end of 2009 and exhibited its service at the International CES last week. It offers a free smartphone application – currently for iPhone and BlackBerry users, with Symbian and Windows Phone versions promised soon – that lets users upload photos and videos to a marketplace for news agencies. Users can set reserve or 'buy now' prices for their files, with 60% of the purchase price going via PayPal to the seller.