Here's half a thought. Local and regional newspapers (and commercial radio and tv news operations around the UK) are spending plenty of time trying to create a revenue model for the online/broadband world.
It would be great to think they were also considering a spending model; how to reward journalists, photographers and cameramen who might contribute to their site's statistics by providing compelling content. If there were a standard rate for a picture's appearance on a home page (in a model where there was no print alternative), added to micro-payments for every click-through (in the style of Google Adsense), then we might begin to see the incentive for a new generation of freelancers. The Belfast Telegraph, for example, has seen a huge surge on online traffic recently (reported in the Independent) but I'm sure it's the managers and developers who are being taken out for celebratory drinks rather than the hacks who covered the stories.
The NUJ has interesting tables of "rates for the job" ranging from £40 to £600 for 1,000 words online, £26 to £800 for a photo online, and some low daily rates for regional video reporting - but that sort of basic rate doesn't allow the writer/film maker to share in the success a strong story might bring, in terms of driving up unique users and then ad content.
The BBC role in this might be to bring back regional/local stringers, who'd get a salary for an agreed basic level of coverage, but have an incentive to sell more (and thus find better stories). These stringers might form the core of new local agencies.
Not a rounded proposal yet, but I'm sure others could take it on....
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