mobile journalism

Your Smartphone is Now a Mobile News Studio

Posted by PrabhasPokharel on Aug 14, 2010
Your Smartphone is Now a Mobile News Studio data sheet 2726 Views
Author: 
Tiffany Campbell
Publication Date: 
Jan 2010
Publication Type: 
Other
Abstract: 

Mobile phones have become a critical mobile news reporting tool. They can be a very effective way to produce content and transmit that content back to the studio very cheaply. The presentation presents real world examples of how mobile phones have been used in reporting contexts to great effect, tools that can help reporters do this reporting, and things to keep in mind (such as battery levels). The presentation also includes the author's recommendations for the best apps for mobile journalism.


Kenya Connected: Mobile Technology is Linking Journalists to Local Sources

Posted by camillakarlsen on Jun 28, 2010
Kenya Connected: Mobile Technology is Linking Journalists to Local Sources data sheet 2492 Views
Author: 
Camilla Karlsen
Publication Date: 
Jun 2010
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

This study explores how news journalists' working conditions are changing in an African developing country due to the growth in information communication technologies (ICTs). The special focus is set on news journalists' use of mobile technology because the rate of mobile penetration in to Africa is so significant these years that the region is actually driving the mobile market’s growth worldwide with a teledensity of over 50%. Although mobile technology has been in the Africa continent for almost two decades it is only within the last two to five years that people have made regular use of these technologies due to recent improvements in accessibility and cost-efficiency.

Interviews with several Kenyan news journalists and other media actors conducted in January and February 2010 were used as the prime empirical data in the study. Thus, to the extent that mobile technology has an effect on the journalistic working process, the following problem statement and research questions served as a guide for this study and were answered in the analysis that drew upon the theoretical framework of journalistic working processes, gatekeeping theory, disruptive technologies, and ICT for development (ICT4D):

•    PS: How do Kenyan news journalists use mobile phones in their work?
•    RQ1: In which ways does mobile technology affect the journalistic working process?
•    RQ2: How does mobile technology affect public interaction with the news media?

The findings suggest that Kenyan news journalists use mobile technology in several ways in their work: they set up interview appointments by calling their sources; they conduct telephone interviews; they record interviews using the mobile phone’s microphone which is particularly useful in conflict-sensitive reporting; they send Internet links to their sources whom can read the online news from their mobile phone’s browser. The consequences of journalists’ use of mobile phones are, for instance, that in the past two to five years mobile technology has linked journalists with sources from Kenya's remote areas and enabled the news media to publish reliable stories which would have been difficult to verify a few years ago. Also, the Kenyan public has gained easy access to the news media, for example by participating in radio call-in shows and the information they provide is sometimes researched by journalists and turned into news stories. The traditional gatekeeper role of the press has changed to fact controller, and it is likely that the public's knowledge contribution can help to promote democracy in the country.


Hindenburg Mobile

Posted by StephanieMilbergs on Jun 01, 2010
Hindenburg Mobile data sheet 3646 Views
Main Contact: 
Preben Friis
Problem or Need: 

Users can record, edit, and publish stories with their iPhones. It was created with radio in mind and enables users to easily record and then edit interviews on an iPhone mobile device.

Main Contact Email : 
Brief Description: 

Hindenburg Mobile is an on-the-phone audio recording and editing suite. It lets journalists media producers concentrate on telling stories without having to deal with technical hassles.  Hindenburg allows a user to drag & drop and plug & play to record and then edit audio on the phone. Users do not need to worry about bit rates, sample rates, codecs, etc. Hindenburg Mobile integrates with the desktop editing suite from the same company, Hindenburg Journalist (in beta). The Hindenburg products are tested by radio professionals, journalists, content providers, and university students.

Tool Category: 
App resides and runs on a mobile phone
Key Features : 

Application is available for download from iTunes. There is also a beta version of Hindenburg Journalist, a desktop audio editing suite, available for download.

Main Services: 
Multi-Media Messaging (MMS) or other Multi-Media
Tool Maturity: 
Currently deployed
Platforms: 
Mac/Apple/iPhone
Program/Code Language: 
Objective C/iPhone
Support Forums: 
http://www.nsaka.com/faq
http://www.nsaka.com/screencasts
Languages supported: 
English, Danish
Is the Tool's Code Available?: 
No
Is an API available to interface with your tool?: 
No
Global Regions: 

Journalism Teachers Get Mobil-ised

Posted by KatrinVerclas on Sep 21, 2009

This post was originally published at MediaShift by Guy Berger, Rhodes University. Republished under Creative Commons licensed here. Thank you, Guy!

Online computers, Africans do not have. Cellphones are a different story.

So why aren't journalism schools around the continent integrating the use of mobile devices fully and squarely into their courses? It's a question that could also apply in many other places - even in media dense environments.

Answers - and solutions - to this challenge were forthcoming in Grahamstown, South Africa, last week, when MobileActive's Katrin Verclas - a Knight grantee - ran a workshop with a selection of African journalism teachers at Rhodes University.

Citizen Journalism: The Newsroom Question

Posted by PrabhasPokharel on Sep 02, 2009

Traditional news media is a changing industry and conversations discussing the future of news media as it transforms itself abound.  What is the future of the newsroom in citizen journalism?

SaveTheNews.org, an organization that is devoted to bringing public policy into conversation about the future of news media, hosted a forum in late August where former staff of Rocky Mountain News and journalists from around Denver fielded a host of questions regarding the future of news media. Below are a few highlights of the conversation (transcript available in full here).

Mobiles and News Gathering at Al Jazeera

Posted by KatrinVerclas on Oct 28, 2008

With the advent of ubiquitous mobile phones recording video, audio, and photos and easily connecting to a worldwide audience, everyone has the potential to become a citizen reporter on the spot, as news and events are happening.  Traditional news organizations (aka mainstream media) are struggling to keep up and find relevance among the new voices from around the world.  Al Jazeera, the Arab news company (and arguably not exactly mainstream media) has been testing mobile phones with its reporters and for its media coverage. Safdar Mustafa, head of Al Jazeera's mobile media unit, explains how in this coverage from MobileActive08.



More videos are on the MobileActive YouTube channel.