The Good & Bad of Mobile Journalism

I'm not going to lie, when I first heard my capstone class for Journalism, at Appalachian State University, was going to focus on mobile journalism, I was confused. When most people think of journalism, or in a broad sense reporting, one tends to think of: massive cameras on someone's shoulder, a microphone in a hand, or a tape recorder being held.

You do not, or at least I did not, think the little electronic device is your hand, can do the same thing all of that expensive equipment can do. I am a full believer in it now, but it is not perfect.

For starters, let's look at the positives.

If you asked a random person on the street, to name biggest advantage of mobile journalism, I would say it'd be a safe bet they would guess money. That's the biggest advantage. Rough estimates could put a typical news kit of: camera, microphone, tripod, lights and a truck to handle transportation and editing, well over $10,000. For a mobile kit? A considerable drop-off. You do not need all the bells and whistles a typical camera needs, or the truck to handle editing, as it is all in the palm of your hand (no pun intended).

Additionally, you save money on the purchase of applications. Once I spent money on the Apple Store, I own the products forever. Free updates, cloud storage and ability to put the same products on my MacBook is a HUGE plus. Unlike traditional equipment, where once a product is outdated, you spend more money to get the new equipment.

Another perk with the mobile kit, is the size and weight of equipment. In the mobile kit bag there's: one light, 2 lenses, a microphone, and an IPad. This is easily tossed over my shoulder and carried with me across campus. Without having to haul a ton of equipment, I can handle a story, then sit down, edit, and post to social media within minutes. The mobile kit, allows you to do a news story in a matter of minutes.

While the perks do look like they could sway voting, there are drawbacks.

The biggest issue I've seen, is there are only so many ports on the IPad. Unless you have an iRig, where you would plug in your headphones, is where the microphone would go. This would complicate matters if you wanted to test audio, making sure the person you were interviewing was loud enough.

Also, lighting can become a major problem. Unlike cameras, that have lights naturally on them, the IPad struggles to illuminate objects, or people. With an application like Camera+, you are practically required to find natural light to not have a dark image. Once you do, a task of making sure the focus is right, and exposure is right. What would be simple with a professional camera, is a simple chore to find the right picture with the IPad.

As I've learned over the first month of class, and past two weeks being more hands on with the equipment, mobile journalism is growing into a more popular, and mainstream, way of delivering news stories.

The world expects to hear the news in a moment's notice. The exciting thing is, the item in their pocket is the way they get it, and can deliver it. While there are multiple drawbacks, enhancements in mobile journalism may reduce the issues, if not erase them entirely.

Only time will tell. Buck your seat belts, it is going to be a wild ride.