In the latest State of the Media Report, consumers were surveyed about their mobile news and paying online habits in which it was discovered that 51 percent of adults use some sort of mobile platform monthly to get local news or information.
So consumers use their mobile devices to consume news – but what about journalists using these ever-changing devices to gather the content? These five applications can enhance any reporter’s breaking news story by adding a multimedia element or allowing for interactivity. And the major benefit of these apps? No bulky equipment. Video, audio, photo, a police scanner and more in one handheld device – can’t beat that.
1. Viddy allows users to capture video and add filters to it before sharing it with their communities on Facebook, Twitter or even Viddy’s own social network. USA Today’s Jefferson Graham’s comprehensive look at Viddy, a free application, shows just what the app can do. Viddy is compatible with Apple products, and an Android version is in the works.
2. UScapeit is a different way for users to share scenes through photography. This free application is a way to capture a place, a scene or a landscape through video, which will then generate a 360-degree 3D panoramic picture. It’s not your typical photo app, but it could provide for a new visual twist to a story. Available for iPhone, iPod Touch (4th Generation) and iPad.
3. AudioBoo is a free app for both Apple and Android products and is a platform to record and share audio. You can even add a photo to the recording, perhaps to set the scene or to show the audience who is speaking. Users, or “boos,” can then share their recordings on Twitter, Facebook, Posterous or other social networks.
4. DisqusPro, an app that costs $2.99, is a platform to regulate blog comments on the go. Users can respond to comments as well as mark them as approved or spam while managing forums through this application, available for Apple products.
5. 5-0 Police Scanner, available for $1.99, offers over 35,000 worldwide channels, a reference map and police codes. Users can merely track breaking news in their area on their iPhones, iPod Touch or iPad and then go to the scene and record it by using Viddy or UScapeit or any other recording app – using the same device.
Newsrooms across the country are adjusting their business plans to accommodate a mobile strategy for delivering news. Now, it might be worth considering talking with their journalists about the best way to capture headlines through the technology – literally – at their finger tips.
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