An iPhone app that gathers live photos and media is earning some attention from news organizations covering the Occupy protest movement.
Tackable is a free app that acts as a video and photo assignment platform displaying local news on a map, along with context from social media. Ian Hill, a social media specialist at public media outlet KQED News, has used Tackable to get 300 photos from on-the-ground during participants in the heated protests in Oakland, California.
Hill's remarks were part of a recent meetup at Storify headquarters in San Francisco called "Occupy the News."
The photo sharing market for apps is jostling with competitors who want to get the best citizen journalism shots. These include similar startups like Snapr and heavyweights like Instagram and Foursquare that have been instrumental in providing photos of recent news events like the London riots and early Occupy Wall Street protests.
Palo Alto-based Tackable's "killer feature" may be early adoption with Silicon Valley news organizations: outfits including The San Jose Mercury News, The Oakland Tribute and the San Mateo County Times are already using it in their newsrooms.
Hill says now is the time for news organizations to keep a close eye on local startups and use them to scoop the competition.
"Work those partnerships and you will be ahead of everyone else," Hill said. "Tackable is still in beta and we have already got some great material from it."