There are a several dates we can point to for the birth of The UpTake. We first met to discuss doing this in early 2007. July 2007 is the month that we launched this website with our first video post and it also happens to be the birth month of our nation. The UpTake also has its roots in the Declaration of Independence. So July is a fitting month to celebrate our birthday as well.

In a year’s time we’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve covered nearly every Presidential caucus and primary from coast-to-coast, often doing so with LIVE streaming video. We’re regularly featured on You Tube’s political page. We’ve racked up a total of about two million video views on Blip and You Tube. We’ve been profiled in many legacy media stories.including being named “Best Citizen Media Outlet” by City Pages. We’re constantly training more volunteer video citizen jounalists.

Most importantly, we’ve established that average folks can work together to cover the news with video-the most believable medium around- and do so with an editorial review process that is accurate, fair and truthful. Sort of a mix of the best of new media abilities and old journalism standards and ethics.

But we wouldn’t have done so without your help. Whether you’re a volunteer, a donor, or a viewer/reader of our work, what we do would not happen without your constant support. Thank you for mothering us through our first year.

Big things are in store for our next year. Live coverage of the national political conventions in Denver and St. Paul using some really cool technology that’s never been done before will be one of the highlights. We’re working on ways that video coverage from citizens can be picked up by the legacy media. Stay tuned for more on that!

Mike McIntee
Executive Producer