Highlights: Producing News With Your Smartphone

Poynter’s NewsU ran a webinar last week on using smartphones for mobile media production. The session leader, Amani Channel (@urbanreporter, LinkedIn), is the Content/Community Manager for Public Broadcasting Atlanta’s online community http://lensonatlanta.org. Session highlights (supplemented by my knowledge of technologies, history) follow.

Smartphones and Applications

• 2009 data: 1-in-3 U.S. adults owns a smart phone or quick messaging device (QMD) up from 1-in-5 in 2008- Forrester
• Applications:
  • Flickr (stills and short video) : iPhone application for uploads
  • Kyte.tv (video) : upload video (no streaming)
  • Qik (live stream) : one of the first communities to allow both streaming and uploads from mobile phone
  • TwitPic (stills) : closely integrated with Twitter but can be used for image sharing other than Twitter
  • TwitVid : share videos (up to 2GB) on Twitter with native app for iPhone and Blackberry
  • uStream.tv (live stream) : live stream (with archive option); iPhone 3G, 3GS and Android
  • YouTube (video) : iPhone 3GS uploads directly to YouTube

Highlights In Mobile Journalism

• July 2005 : London subway bombing – still photos
• April 2007 : Virginia Tech shooting (Jamal Albarghouti, cellphone video)
• November 2007 : Kyte-Nokia integration
• Jan 2008 : vlogger Steve Garfield scoops CNN (New Hampshire)
• Throughout 2008 : Qik expands smartphone support
• Jan 2009 : Hudson River plane crash (TwitPic, Janis Krums)
• June 2009 : WFOR shoots package about the iPhone with iPhone 3GS
• August 2009 : Jeremy Jojola uses iPhone for live shot (KOB, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• December 2009 : uStream releases mobile app

Building Your Network

• Blogger, WordPress, Typepad
• Facebook, Twitter

Editing On The iPhone

• Animoto – create slideshows or slideshows+video that are executed as videos with music from Animoto
• iPhone video : trim is the only native application “edit” mode
• PhotoGene : edit still photos – crop, color/brightness correction

News Communities

• CBS EyeMobile – citizen journalism, CBS; iPhone app for uploads
• iReport – citizen journalism, CNN
• Newsvine – citizen journalism, MSNBC.com
• NowPublic.com

Tips for Shooting Video With Your Smartphone

• Turn to “airplane mode” to nix any incoming calls
• Does it need to be live or can it be memorex? In other words, think: if you can pre-record and edit, do so.
• Shoot horizontally
• Hold the phone as still as possible; consider getting a tripod mount if you think you’ll use your phone for video often. Hard core: Owle Bubo (review).
• Consider external mike if you plan to use your phone for video often.

For more info, read Poynter’s new mobile media blog.

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