Chapter 5: Going Mobile

Chapter five summarizes well the importance of being a mobile journalist, keeping up with and being ahead of the times technologically.  With the introduction of the smart phones, reporters have been boosted to a new level of speed, efficiency, and connectivity. With the ability to snap photos, shoot video, and use GPS and the Internet to send those valuable assets back to the office has made reporting ever more resourceful.

I really liked the point made by Steve Yelvington when he said, “It’s more important to consider the mobile consumer’s needs.” Yelvington stresses than making the progression from online newspaper to “on-phone newspaper,” that we rather simply try a more user friendly approach, including connecting readers with one another through mobile devices and allowing them to share information and photos.

I didn’t even consider the idea that having a smart phone that takes video places you as the reporter with a more likely opportunity for an interview to take place. Smart phones are much less bulky and intimidating than the typical news camera and sound equipment set up formerly required for interviews. Even better, once the interview is completed, the video can be immediately sent to an editor or to your office.  It plays out quite nicely for free lance journalists and bloggers who can’t afford a film crew.

With the creation of apps for both the iPhone products and the BlackBerry line, resources such as twitter, facebook, myspace, etc. are more easily accessible when you’re out in the streets and you want to upload a picture or video or newsworthy story you stumble across in your travels. You also have the option of real time text updates.

Not only does the new smart phone technology take the field of reporting to an entirely new level of efficiency, but it also allows for you to have a more interactive, and therefore more interested audience.  They have the option to use their smart phones to upload and send photos and videos of a breaking story that they think you as a journalist might find useful. Mobile crowdsourcing has become an essential part of a news corporations breaking news strategy.