A look at CBS’ citizen journalism iPhone app

I’ve been playing with “CBS EyeMobile,” a new iPhone application (iTunes link) from CBS News, built by Seattle’s Treemo Labs. You can submit photos straight from your iPhone, and browse photos and video clips uploaded by other citizen reporters. As you may know, you can’t shoot video from your iPhone unless you’ve hacked it. (Like many iPhone users, I’m waiting for Apple to unlock the phone’s video capability, both recorded and live.) “Soon we will be able to broadcast anything live from the street, essentially becoming walking televisions,” said Jeff Sellinger, GM of CBS Mobile.

As of this writing on EyeMobile, I see a photo from Yankee Stadium’s final night, a choppy video clip of Obama at the University of Miami and a bunch of other random stuff, including some guy drinking a beer. Regardless of what people are posting so far, mobile devices are clearly the platform for citizen newsgathering, and an iPhone application is a logical funnel. The challenge, of course, is how to organize the avalanche of citizen “news” that is to come — and how affiliates fit into this picture. Press release follows below…

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 — CBS Mobile today announced it has released its EyeMobile iPhone application making CBS the first broadcast network to launch an application enabling users to become personal broadcasters as they upload, view and comment on photos and videos. The EyeMobile application, built by Treemo Labs, is now available, free of charge, at the iTunes App Store (

The EyeMobile application offers the full functionality of CBSEyeMobile.com which launched earlier this year. Using the iPhone camera, users can capture and upload photos to the CBS EyeMobile site where they can view and rate reports and interact with other EyeMobile on-the-go journalists. After submitting information, EyeMobile application users can update their report, track the report’s number of views, and engage in discussions with members of the EyeMobile community.

“We are very excited to be able to bring a cutting edge application to iPhone and iPod Touch users,” said Jeff Sellinger, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Mobile. “Soon we will be able to broadcast anything live from the street, essentially becoming walking televisions. This application enables any iPhone user to report news from their hometown or wherever they are. It also allows users to engage in non-filtered reporting from real people. The EyeMobile application is the best of both worlds.”

The EyeMobile application was developed for CBS Mobile by Seattle based Treemo Labs (

“The CBS EyeMobile application for iPhone and iPod Touch sets a new standard for social media, citizen journalism and the iPhone,” said Brent Brookler, CEO, Treemo Labs. “We are happy to have a partner like CBS Mobile pushing the envelope on technology while keeping the consumer experience front and center.”

The EyeMobile iPhone Application is now available, free of charge, in the iTunes App Store. EyeMobile is the first application from a broadcast network offering users the ability to become personal broadcasters by uploading, viewing and commenting on photos and videos live, from anywhere.

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