That phone in your hand could make you a journalist for your community. The explosion of digital media means traditional news organisations can no longer dictate what is and isn’t true in our world.
That phone in your hand could make you a journalist for your community. The explosion of digital media means traditional news organisations can no longer dictate what is and isn’t true in our world.
Now, everybody holds a powerful tool for capturing news as it happens, interpreting it and sharing it with their close friends or the whole world.
Cell phones bring people closer than ever before to the pulse of their communities. If your phone takes pictures or video, you can capture valuable information few journalists are in a position to – we can’t be everywhere at once!
If you see or hear something you think other people would want to know about, snap a picture, record some audio or even capture video footage – on the spot.
In the past young people have often been left out of the news loop, but this is changing now that we are using a language we’re way more familiar with than most adults – and I don’t mean SMS speak!
We have a built-in understanding of mobile technology that often leaves grown-ups in awe, and we can use this to our advantage and start shaping the world we live in.
“Citizen journalism” puts the power in your hands to expose problems, ideas and solutions that have gone unnoticed for too long.
But journalists still have an important role to play.
Their skills can be used to follow up, verify facts, give some context to the event and make sure your story is heard as loud and clear as possible.
You can send us pictures by MMS, email or by uploading them to our website. Remember to check quality settings on your camera phone – set it to the highest resolution, and never resize images if you want them to appear in the paper.
A built-in voice and call recorder is indispensable, but you can also download mobile video editing suites and live-streaming applications to create and share content even more effectively.
But even without a smartphone you can send in your news or comments.
It’s as easy as letting your thumbs do the talking and sending an SMS to Grocott’s Mail at 082 049 2146.
And soon Grocott’s will be one of the first media organisations on Mxit, which means more characters can be shared between more people, for less.
Or do it the old-fashioned way – visit our newsroom and we can upload your pictures, stories, video or audio and help you turn it into a story to share.
You could create a whole slideshow using pictures and narration recorded on the voice recorder on your phone!
If your phone can access Twitter and Facebook, use these tools for something more than looking at funny pictures of cats or skinnering about that girl you don’t like.
You can join debates, offer a local, first-person perspective on breaking news, get important information and establish your online reputation as someone with valuable insights and informed opinions. So, what are you waiting for?
You have an entire newsroom in your pocket, just waiting to explore the world! * Gobbledygeek is a local look at global technology trends.
This week’s column was written by Kayla Roux, Grocott’s Mail’s (new) new media producer.
