Mobile journalism: a snapshot of current research and practice

Descriptions of journalistic practice have long been compartmentalized by the media forms in which news output is published. Broad distinctions are often made between print and broadcast journalism, or magazine, newspaper, radio, or TV reporters. Recent variants include references to online or Web journalism, or to newer publication forms such as blogging, micro-blogging (‘tweeting’) and video and audio podcasting. Journalism is also differentiated by the technological means by which it is produced, such as with the solo video journalist (‘VJ’) equipped with a compact video camera, or the photojournalist now able to publish digital images straight to our screens via the Internet. The past decade has seen the diffusion of terms such as ‘backpack journalism’ to describe how a solo journalist equipped with a laptop computer, digital camera and satellite uplink can report across a variety of media from almost anywhere in the world. Another emerging form is that now described as ‘mobile journalism’ (‘MoJo’). The term has been loosely applied to describe a journalistic practice based on reporters equipped with highly portable multimedia newsgathering equipment, including both consumer and professional devices. This chapter examines a more specific form of mobile journalism based on the rapid convergence of handheld and wireless computing, digital photography and mobile telephony. Attention is now turning to the newsgathering potential of highly compact – even pocket-sized -­ digital field reporting kits based upon mobile phones and tablet devices.