Live Cam+Spotter Network+Media=?

[Mike Peregrine]

I just noticed the note in Shane's report from yesterday that media were using positioning in Spotter Network to contact them for live reports???

Wondered if this has been a universal problem for people or just something that has happened to one or two.

Seems pretty crazy to me. I wonder if Spotter Network might consider adding an option to indicate that the chaser is opting out of media calls during the chase, similar to the option for contact by local NWS offices. I wouldn't care if any NWS office contacted me, but I wouldn't want calls from every Tom, Dick or Harry news station looking for free feeds. Chasing is hectic enough as it is -

 

[Chris Lott]

On spotternetwork, you decide what information you want to be seen when people click on your icon showing your position. If I was being annoyed by the calls, I would hide that info so noone could see it, but it's strictly up to the individual.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Thanks Chris ... can you set it so the NWS personnel can still identify and contact you, without anyone else?

 

[Chris Lott]

I'm not sure on that part. I think the best thing to do is to contact the NWS office yourself. I haven't seen anything where you can be seen only by them as far as contact info.

 

[Shane Adams]

Mick's taking his phone # off his SN info...it's been ridiculous this year...not a minute after the tornado's over the damn phone is ringing.

Yesterday we were getting so annoyed by it, we briefly considered agreeing to do an on-air interview and then dropping f-bombs on the air, just to teach them a lesson.

FWIW, I've been calling in all tornado reports via cell phone, although I'm gonna start doing so AFTER the tornado ends...I screwed up my video all day yesterday trying to shoot vid and call in at the same time.

 

[rdale]

Might check on the spotternetwork.org forums, but I think the plan was to only have phone info going out to public safety agencies. Tyler would be the expert on this one.

 

[Johnathan Brouwer]

make it auto ava for the NWS and such and then REQUIRE the media to register and pay a fee, then allow the chaser to decide if they want to publish contact info. Chasers then should be contacted before the event by the media to arrange some sort of compensation for the report they give. The media MUST pre-contact the chasers before severe wx event to work out details and THEY MUST reg and pay a fee to access the network...

If they want to have the best and claim to have the: "best, first, soonest, first to report or most complete coverage" then they must be willing to contribute to the system and must be willing to not bother the boots on the ground.

 

[Chris Sokol]

Mick's taking his phone # off his SN info...

I will have to raise my hand here and take some blame, and apologize to Mick if it was a problem. We did see his location on SN and called him to see what they were observing, as we were about to punch through that storm. Ours was more of a safety issue. LOL...even after getting their observations, we still ran into a bit of unexpected excitement in the storm.

Anyway...didn't mean to bother you guys. We were just trying to add an extra degree of safety while we punched through.

Chris

 

[Tim Purington]

After my cell number I added "NWS ONLY". This seems to do the trick.

 

[Shane Adams]

I will have to raise my hand here and take some blame, and apologize to Mick if it was a problem. We did see his location on SN and called him to see what they were observing, as we were about to punch through that storm. Ours was more of a safety issue. LOL...even after getting their observations, we still ran into a bit of unexpected excitement in the storm.

Anyway...didn't mean to bother you guys. We were just trying to add an extra degree of safety while we punched through.

Chris

Other chasers aren't the problem.....getting calls from CNN when we're still in the thick of the craziness is what we're sick of.

 

[HAltschule]

Hmmm, interesting problem.

Obviously, taking your phone number off of the SN would be the smartest. If not, then maybe you could add yourself to the do not call registry and state on your id "Cell phone registered with Do Not Call list. Solicitators will be sued".

Lol. Just a couple of thoughts.

 

[Brett Adair]

I've had some calls from media this year in the southeast.....but they haven't called when we were in the thick of chasing a tornado. Most call shortly after and they ask us if we would like to give any information. We haven't declined as of yet since they have been pretty nice about it, but if I were about to have a circulation go over my head I might have to tell them off.

 

[Tyler Allison]

Any media that contacts you should be reported to me if you have the time to get their information. To date, _NO_ media outlets have opted to support the SpotterNetwork in accordance with our no-commercial use Terms of Service. Therefor anyone contacting you from a media outlet would be in violation and I will raise a stink.

I would recommend that anyone who is being contacted should set their contact information to 'No'. Going forward, only the NWS and vetted emergency management folks will be able to see contact information that is set 'No' (eg: not public). For those looking for even more privacy, I'm working on a new 'Premium' service that you can beta test that allows you to go completely off the map except for NWS/Vetted emergency folks and your friends (you must authorize friends to see you). Feedback is most welcome!

Some media outlets do wish to support our network (Im working on a major deal that will help the SN expand, hopefully soon to be announced), but there will be an "open to media contact" or "not open to media contact" option for members and the media outlets will have agreed via contract to abide by the settings.

-Tyler

 

[Bill Tabor]

Yeah I've thought of making my cell public, but haven't so far. I mean it's cool to be in touch and maybe chat with other chasers about the storm or even have NWS ask you a question about it. My deal though is I often chase alone and am already balancing 10 things at once including videotaping and taking pictures. Having a lot of people calling on the phone in the thick of things could be really distracting. It was a bigger deal when I used to tether, but last chase I switched over to an air card and still have my verizon phone for voice. The other issue I suppose is cell phones are typically private. If you post the number out there you may never hear the end of it.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

If it were me, I'd probably just change the phone number to some Pizza Hut number somewhere, or something else.