WEEK 10 – Mojos rule the world, but Australia lags behind
Stephen Quinn writes of reporters who carry nothing more than a mobile phone, wittily coined mojos (mobile journalists).
I reckon it’s a logical extension of citizen journalism (see my previous post for more on this). It’s giving qualified journalists the tools to report on anything and everything as they go about their everyday lives.
I, for one, always carry a small digital camera in my handbag. Several times I’ve passed car crashes on the way home from work and stopped for a quick photo that can be used in the paper (I work for a local Brisbane newspaper, the Albert and Logan News).
But imagine if I could do the same on my mobile phone. One less thing to carry – and I could grab interviews with people on scene at the same time. Before you know it, I’d have enough material for both an online and a print story. Like this guy.
There are a couple of stumbling blocks. Quality of images and video are one. But mobile phone companies – particularly Apple and Nokia – are leading the field in creating smartphones capable of taking photos of HD camera quality.
For Aussie journos, expensive internet charges – and at times a lack of broadband coverage – is another issue. Mobile companies only offer capped data packages at the moment, so exceeding the monthly limit, at a high cost, is almost inevitable.
But this will change. It’s just a matter of time.
– Koren
Frank Barth-Nilsen writes about mobile journalism
and reporting on his blog, Mojo Evolution.
Photo: Bloggerguy.
