When does “Mobile Journalism” become “Journalism?”

Photo via AustinMann.com

By A.J. Feather

We hear about mobile journalism a lot at the Missouri School of Journalism.  It seems almost every month someone has figured out how to capture a moment better with their smartphone than a DSLR or dedicated audio recorder.  It is also moving into the media. An article in Wired last month ventured to explain “How the Smartphone Ushered In a Golden Age of Journalism.” Judd Slivka, a professor of Convergence Journalism here at MU, argues ‘”Mobile journalism” is a ridiculous title, like “camera journalism.”’ He says the equipment does not determine what good journalism is. Good journalism is good journalism regardless of the means we use to produce it.

Apps for mobile journalists

By: Hannah Schmidt

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Thompson Foundation

The smartphone has advanced since it first debuted. Now it has greater streaming ability, storage capacity, and photo and video quality.

Journalists now have easier ways to shoot, edit and share content faster than ever and in any situation. As assistant professor Karen Mitchell says, "The best camera you have is the one in your hand."

Here are some of the apps available for mobile journalists to capture and edit audio, photos, and video.

Are we missing one you prefer? Let us know.

Reporters face unreasonable expectations after Sun-Times photo layoffs

By Andrew Gibson

There's a long list of reasons why the Chicago Sun-Times will likely suffer from laying off its entire photo staff. It won't have the varying perspectives that come from visual-first journalists. Morale in the newsroom will surely drop. And it won't have the crew that's come to learn the nuances of the city after years of experience. Look no further than John H. White, the 35-year Sun-Times veteran and Pulitzer Prize winner selected by the Environmental Protection Agency to photograph Chicago's African-American community in the 1970s.

But there's another problem: Quality inevitably suffers when journalists are forced to multitask on daily deadlines. And that's exactly what the Sun-Times is asking its reporters to do: be responsible, along with freelance photojournalists, for shooting professional-caliber photos when they're on assignment.