Sourcing Images

Sourcing

Public Domain images and videos: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Images and videos can be only sourced from social media accounts if:

● The image or video does NOT belong to a news source, particularly a competing source (you are responsible for cross-checking)
● The image or video is NOT credited to a photographer (If a photographer is credited, direct written  permission needs to be provided by the image creator – again, you are responsible for cross-checking)

Additionally, here’s how you can trace the origins of an image by reverse-searching it on Google:

STEP 1. Rick-click your image and select “Search image with Google”.

STEP 2 On the right of your screen, a panel should appear. Click on Find Image Source.”

STEP 3: Go through the search results and find the most reliable page to determine the origin of the image

Please watch this video as well for another method on how to verify an image’s source or credentials.

Sourcing images and videos from political parties’ social media platforms is usually fine. If you’re unsure – ask your editor on duty.

We also have a comprehensive list of free-to-use image resources, which is shared among both permanent content creators and freelancers.

Finding free-to-use images with Google Search

Google has devised a simple way to find free-to-use images through a series of three simple steps

STEP 1: Search for the image you want. Click on the “images” tab.

STEP 2: Click on the “Tools” on the far right.

STEP 3: Expand the “Usage Rights” drop-down menu then choose “Creative Common licences”

Download the image you need, in the appropriate size (minimum of 1200px in width), and credit the source in the caption correctly.

Sourcing from Flickr

When sourcing images from Flickr, please note that not all images are free to use. There are others we shouldn’t use due to rights and licence restrictions.
To ascertain whether an image is free to use on Flickr, please follow these steps:
Open the image and “view all sizes”.

Next, see the highlighted “download” part. If “the owner has disabled downloading of their photos”, refrain from using the image and rather seek another one.

Additionally, the image’s licence is “ALL RIGHTS RESERVED”, which means it’s not free and permission must be sought before usage.
There are plenty of free-to-use images on Flickr, such as SA government images. 

These need to be properly credited in the caption as The South African’s rules.

With free-to-use images, you’ll usually see “Download the original size of this photo”, as seen below;

If you want to use an image but you’re unsure of the license conditions, please reach out to your manager or the TT & Q team.