ALJ301 reactions, thoughts and musings

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.

This week’s informative blog introduced me to five vlogs of varying worth… and made me seriously question why I put up with crappy commercial television every night (aside from the ABC, of course. I’d never knock my beloved ABC).

I adored the Alive in Baghdad vlog, which puts faces to the statistics bandied about on the news every night. This citizen journalism project is first-class and worth a look.

Likewise, MobuzzTV impressed me with its slick, TV-news-style production. The only difference? The content was actually interesting and not at all predictable like the daily news bulletins.

I thought Ask a Ninja was stupid, Wine Library TV didn’t appeal to me and Rocketboom loaded poorly with stilted images (but interesting and satirical content).

This small taste of vlogs really opened my eyes to the wide variety of high-quality video information out there. It seems online video is gaining speed as a story-telling medium, which I reckon spells good news for journalism. I’m all for an even playing field!

– Koren

PS – I decided to give vlogging a go. In the spirit of mojos, I used my Nokia 61-something. Unfortunately its measly two megapixel camera compromised the quality and I’m sure Jennifer Woodard Maderazo would hate me for introducing yet another crappy quality, not very interesting vlog to the world.

But here it is, if you can bear it…