After an alarmingly high number of news outlets have fired their photographers in recent years, and some have trained their reporters to use the iPhone’s camera, a new effort to crowdsource photojournalism threatens to deliver another blow to the industry.

Fresco News is an app that offers ‘bite-sized’ news in the form of photos and videos captured by ‘real people’, somewhat similar to CNN’s iReport, but an upcoming update will allow its members to get sent on paid assignments for newsrooms across the U.S.

There are obvious advantages in harnessing the power of the masses and their smartphone cameras, but how long before news outlets opt for ‘good enough’ and prefer to pay $700/month for unlimited access to iPhone photos instead of dispatching professional photographers?

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