Live news upload issue

[Newberry]

The "Live News" section is grayed out for me, on the upload page on Alamy web site; the "Stock" and "Reportage/Archival" sections are working normally. Also, I don't see a "live news" folder when logging in via FTP (to newsupload.alamy.com). I am approved for live news contributions.

 

Anyone know why that is?

Edited June 1, 2020 by Newberry
minor edit

[sb photos]

Based upon the issue you reported I suspect you will need to contact Alamy, not a quick process during these times.

 

Just out of interest, were you previously able to upload live news, or have you just been approved?

[Newberry]

13 minutes ago, sb photos said:

Based upon the issue you reported I suspect you will need to contact Alamy, not a quick process during these times.

 

Just out of interest, were you previously able to upload live news, or have you just been approved?

I just emailed them. Yes, I have previously been able to upload live news.

Weird thing is I remembered that last time I uploaded a regular stock photo, it was available for sale immediately after uploading if description/headline metadata was present (if not, it was available for sale as soon as I added info). So I just uploaded the live news photos that way.

Has that been the case for awhile, that images go on sale immediately, instead of after the day or two approval process?

[MDM]

Live news access was removed for a lot of contributors who were not making news sales in spring of 2019 and it was necessary to request access again if that had happened. There was a change in the QC process more recently whereby uploads by contributors with excellent QC records go through much faster if not immediately so that is what has happened with your images. If the images have been tagged properly they go on visible sale as stock as soon as the database is updated (usually overnight UK time). Random checks still occur so there is no guarantee of passing immediately and I believe things have been slower during the pandemic lockdown.

 

This is not the same as live news images which are sent out to newsdesks and agencies as soon as they go live and are more likely to be seen and sold as news than images that go on the system as stock. If you want live news access then you would need to contact the news team and explain why you need it. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by MDM

[Newberry]

30 minutes ago, MDM said:

Live news access was removed for a lot of contributors who were not making news sales in spring of 2019 and it was necessary to request access again if that had happened. There was a change in the QC process more recently whereby uploads by contributors with excellent QC records go through much faster if not immediately so that is what has happened with your images. If the images have been tagged properly they go on visible sale as stock as soon as the database is updated (usually overnight UK time). Random checks still occur so there is no guarantee of passing immediately and I believe things have been slower during the pandemic lockdown.

 

This is not the same as live news images which are sent out to newsdesks and agencies as soon as they go live and are more likely to be seen and sold as news than images that go on the system as stock. If you want live news access then you would need to contact the news team and explain why you need it. 

Thanks MDM, that's helpful. I heard back from Alamy, and it turns out that there was a problem with my captioning last time I submitted live news, but I was granted access again.

[MDM]

3 minutes ago, Newberry said:

Thanks MDM, that's helpful. I heard back from Alamy, and it turns out that there was a problem with my captioning last time I submitted live news, but I was granted access again.

 

Yes the tagging is very fussy with live news and will reject anything that is not exactly correct. Best of luck.