The UK's Telegraph website has launched a new feature called 'Snap and Send' whereby readers can send in images from their mobile phones.

The Telegraph's web editor Richard Burton said the new initiative is "designed to encourage readers to feel part of the site in the same way that blogs and 'your view' tools invite readers to interact." Plans for exactly how readers' photos will be used have not been finalised, but it is expected that they will appear in both the Telegraph's online and printed versions.

Concerns have been voiced by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in reference to the new Telegraph initiative. First comes the issue of the terms and conditions readers' will have to agree to; all rights concerning their photos will be handed over to the Telegraph and the company will be able to re-sell and re-use them as it wishes.

Burton denies that re-sale of pictures is an objective of the 'Snap and Send' initiative: "We're not asking people for sale-able pictures - it is simply an opportunity for readers to contribute their views."

NUJ is also concerned that "news sites might choose to publish free reader images instead of paying for work by professionals, and that members of the public are not bound by the professional codes of practice that oblige them to work ethically and safely."

Burton has asserted that readers' images will not replace professional photography on the Telegraph website.

Source: Journalism.co.uk