Feb 22nd, 2011
Chapter 5: Going Mobile
“The four billion cellphones in use around the globe carry personal information, provide access to the Web and are being used more and more to navigate the real word. And as cellphones change how we live, computer scientists say, they are also changing how we think about information.” – John Markoff
“The audience is going mobile, so the journalism should, too.” says Mark Briggs.
Mobile journalism is the wave of the future, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. According to Briggs, one should bother with this new technological hassle for two main reasons:
- A reporter on the scene doing eyewitness interviews and making firsthand observations produces a better story;
- Today’s news audience expects to see and hear that story NOW, as it’s occurring, not tomorrow morning.
Journalism is all about instant gratification and getting to know what’s going on AS it’s happening. There’s no time to wait and the future is our present.
A list of some situations that render to mobile journalism are:
- Criminal and civil trials
- Important speeches
- Breaking news events of ALL types
- Protests, political rallies, parades, etc.
- Sporting events
- Grand openings
Some publishing options would be:
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Mobile microblogging
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Live blogging
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Mobile video
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Mobile multimedia
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Mobile audio
In conclusion, Briggs states, “Many smart people predict that mobile technology will change the media landscape more than the mainstream adoption of the Web did in the 1990s. So, get a jump on it now.”
Copyright: letsgomobile.org
