Do the smart thing-buy a smartphone.
In the modern age of technology and news gathering, it is essential for a journalist to own a smartphone to keep pace with the 24-hour news cycle. Rather than regarding the smartphone as a tool for teens to update their facebook or twitter accounts 50 times a day, embrace the technology that can be one of your best friends in the field.
Obviously, any aspiring journalist should be aware that their future profession requires a lot of traveling to destinations. During these travel times, every minute counts now. Long gone are the days where a journalist would sit and wonder what is happening with a story they are working on while they await a source to return a message that was left three hours earlier.
Smartphones, such as the iPhone, allows journalists the tools to constantly stay on the internet and find the research or information they are looking for. These phones also lessen the burden of having to carry so many devices.
A few blog posts back, I referred to what a backpack journalist is and what they need to fully cover a story. While all that equipment will help capture a story, constantly carrying around all of those items can become a burden when in the field without a news team helping out.
The Handy, Dandy iPhone
This is where the iPhone comes in handy. It acts as a cell phone, tape recorder, laptop computer, camera and video recorder all in one device.
In recent days researching for projects, which take up most of my day as a senior communication student, I came across a story that put the handiness of the all-in-one capabilities of the iPhone into context.
Back in October 2010, WTOP-FM in Washington, D.C. featured a journalist doing something that had not been accounted for in many other places. Neil Augenstein used solely his iPhone to report, edit and file his story straight from the field.
While Augenstein may be one of the first journalists to accomplish this, he potentially could represent a trend in new ways of reporting and embracing technology.
This is a sign that it is important for journalists to not only run out and buy a smart phone, but also learns how to correctly use all of their functions.
Companies today will certainly look to their journalists to be tech savvy with smart phones. Lacking those fundamental skills could be a barrier to landing the job you want out of college.
Other Helpful Tools of the iPhone
1. SpotCrime
Finds out what crimes have occurred in a desired location. This enables journalists to locate heavy crime areas for news like they never have been able to before. Local media outlets tend to be considered a sort of gatekeeper for this information, but now journalists have access to it as long as they have an iPhone.
2. Kindle
This allows journalists to have the ability to research long text on the go without having to carry around several books or documents. Journalists can expand to their stories in real time.
3. Howcast
This application allows journalists to make quick videos pertaining to a story for consumption by the public. Quick videos with helpful tips regarding any story or idea can be relayed to the audience without much work.
4. HearPlanet
HearPlanet allows journalists to get quick information on such things as landmarks. Journalists can make location-based material available in a short amount of time.
5. UStream
This application enables the journalist to upload videos from HowCast and audio clips quickly.
6. Reeldirector
Reeldirector is a video editing application that can edit clips and combine videos cohesively. This tool can also add sound or music to the clips to add emotion to them.
7. WordPress
Wordpress is a tool that gives journalists the opportunity to write stories and embed multimedia on the road without ever having to stop off to get on a computer. This saves time and adds to the immediacy audiences want.
References
Ferenstein, G. (2010, February 1). Five essential tools for the mobile journalist. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/02/01/mobile-journalist-tools/
Shiver, R. (2010, November 1). Continuing the journalism evolution-using smartphones. Retrieved from http://students.com.miami.edu/netreporting/?p=1019
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