Calling All Mobile Paparazzi - Beat The Pros At Their Own Game In A New Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LONDON - October 2nd, 2006 - Have you ever wondered what it would be like to make the news, rather than just watching it? Are there stories that you think the newspapers and telly miss out on? Do you fancy yourself as the next John Simpson or Fiona Bruce and do you have a mobile phone and an eye for a story? If so, websites Pocket Picks and Scoopt are giving away an amazing top of the range Nokia N73 multimedia phone for the best mobile snapper.
The competition is being run jointly by website Pocket Picks ( www.pocketpicks.co.uk), which covers all things mobile, and Scoopt ( www.scoopt.com), the world's first commercial citizen journalism agency with more than 10,000 members in over 90 countries. For the whole of October anyone with a cameraphone and an interesting story to tell can submit their pictures along with a short caption. At the end of the month the person who submits the most interesting and impactful story will win a brilliant Nokia N73 mobile phone, which includes an integrated 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optical lens for print-quality photos.
If you've got a story to tell, a whistle to blow or something to get off your chest - or if you simply happen to find yourself in the right place at the right time - get your mobile out and take a picture! The best picture(s) will be published at www.pocketpicks.co.uk/latest/index.php/competition, with a public vote for the best overall entry.
So what makes a photograph interesting? Scoopt and Pocket Picks are looking for photos that will interest at least 100 other people - not a shot of a sunset or the family cat stuck up a tree - unless you live on Mars or the family cat's a tiger. But how about the effects of binge drinking in your town centre? Does graffiti get you down? Fire, flood and pestilence are always interesting but so too are cheerier subjects like local sporting victories and celebrity spottings. Interesting stuff happens all around us all the time so just carry your cameraphone everywhere and think like a snapper!
For the next four weeks budding reporters can send their pictures via MMS to 07717 661767 or email to pocketpicks@scoopt.com.
"The paparazzi's future is in peril," said Chris James of Pocket Picks. "Whether it's a serious business like a tsunami or a terrorist outrage or simply a shot of a short-skirted celebrity babe getting out of the car less carefully than she should, these days it's the public who are there to capture it first. Who knows, maybe our competition will inspire the David Bailey or Robert Doisneau of the cameraphone era to get snapping!"
Entry rules
Email your photo to pocketpicks@scoopt.com or MMS it to 07717 661767 (your standard network rate will apply - this is NOT a premium number). Email is easier for writing captions. Alternatively, you can upload your photo and caption through Scoopt. Membership is required but this is free and without any commitment. Caption your photograph to tell the story behind it in no more than 100 words. Please provide your name, email address and date of birth when you enter. If you don't want us to publish your name, just tell us. We won't publish your email address. You must be aged 16 or over to enter (or aged 18 or over to join Scoopt). You must own the copyright to all photographs you submit. That generally means that you must have taken them yourself. By submitting photographs to this competition, you grant Scoopt and Pocket Picks the right to publish them on the Pocket Picks competition page and on the Scoopt website. This is a non-exclusive right that doesn't in any way limit your right to do whatever you want with your photographs. You keep copyright. Pocket Picks and Scoopt will not seek to benefit commercially from your photographs nor shall we allow anybody else to do so. We respect your privacy. Personal information shall be kept only for the duration of the competition and not under any circumstances passed on to any third party. Closing date is Monday 30th October 2006. Keep it legal, keep it decent and always stay safe. About Steel MediaSteel Media was formed in 2006 by six publishing professionals with over 50 years of newsstand and customer magazine experience between them. Our aim is to make amazing publications both for ourselves and for selected third parties.
The company has so far launched two websites: Pocket Gamer ( www.pocketgamer.co.uk), which is dedicated to covering the emerging market segment of game-playing-on-the-go, and Pocket Picks ( www.pocketpicks.co.uk), one of the first consumer-focussed sites to track the latest developments in mobile content and entertainment.
About Scoopt
Scoopt is the world's first, biggest and best citizen journalism agency. It licenses amateur pictures and videos - YOUR content - to the press. So if you capture breaking news, send it to Scoopt and get paid like a professional.
Contact:
Chris James
Managing director, Pocket Picks
Email: chris@pocketgamer.co.uk
Tel: 07811 135 982