Sinclair Broadcast Group is joining the list of stations that will rely more on viewers to gather the news as opposed to their employees doing it.

The Fox O&O's (AKA The Firm) use the app Fresco, that let's viewers shoot news stories and upload them to the station. 

Sinclair is going to be using the platform Burst. 

"Burst is a unique opportunity for us to build upon viewer engagement in our local communities," said Scott Livingston, Sinclair’s VP of News said in a statement. "The platform has differentiated itself by being incredibly easy to use and early UGC results have been very encouraging."

Burst is basically the same thing as Fresco, it let's viewers submit video of breaking news, weather, sports or whatever else they think is news worthy to the Sinclair stations. Sinclair will then have the rights to use the video across all platforms.  

The idea that you are letting viewers act as Journalists on your company's behalf, is a slippery slope and one that FTVLive believes stations and companies should be cautious about. 

Will we soon see airlines, letting passengers come on up and fly the plane for awhile? Will hospitals start letting people off the street come in and try their hand at a little surgery? 

Just asking.....