Online Journalism Blog

Soccer stud Cristiano Ronaldo crashed his beautiful $289,000 Ferrari 599 inside the Manchester Tunnel back in ’09 and guess which camera crew was there to cover this story first!

None.

It was a Nokia N95 cell phone that first captured the footage.

According to the text, three quarters of all children own at least one cell phone between the ages of 7 and 15. Wow.

“Advances in mobile technology, both devices and services, make it easier than ever before to cover a news event on location.”

All you need is a tool to capture the footage and a way to connect to the internet in order to publish it.

Choose your story:

The simplicity of covering a story with such a small amount of equipment (camera, phone, etc.) makes life easy for a reporter in today’s world, but it’s important when covering a story that the journalism should come first and the technology second.

Some things to think about when choosing a story:

• Will the audience benefit if we take them there?
• Will the journalism be better done if it’s on location and with urgency?
• Can this assignment be effectively communicated in small chunks over time?
• Will sound reporting or video footage, turned around quickly, help people understand the story?

There are two ends of the spectrum as a reporter:

Gearhead: A dedicated reporter whose job is get out and about to report from the field all day, every day. They are telling multimedia stories and publishing them any chance they get.

Light packer: A more traditional journalist, someone who occasionally needs to report immediately. This person needs just enough equipment to get the job done.

Depending on the type of reporter you are, each one needs a different amount/type of equipment.

Gearheads need:

1. Laptop computer
2. Internet connection
3. Camera
4. Video camera
5. Tripod
6. Audio recorder
7. Headphones
8. Microphone
9. Cell phone

Light packers need:

1. Smartphone…That’s it!

There are also an increasing amount of ways to publish your information, including:

• Mobile microblogging
• Live blogging
• Mobile video
• Mobile multimedia
• Mobile crowdsourcing

Times are changing. So should the way you get your story out to the public if you want it to reach them as quickly as possible.