MoJo in Action: The use of mobiles in conflict, community and cross platform Journalism

Abstract

As citizen journalism and social media continue to influence and shape the global media landscape, and as smartphone technology becomes increasingly prevalent and affordable, this paper details four international smartphone-centric case studies that utilize a beta-stage editorial commissioning platform and accompanying smartphone. The study comes as increasing numbers of news organizations and citizen journalism tools harness the power of smartphones to both collect and publish editorial content. This paper examines the potential for community, student, and professional reporters to collate and transmit media via a tailored publishing platform provide and asks whether this platform can create a seamless link between smartphone content production and newsroom-based operations. It outlines considerations for future platform development and potential design methodologies to facilitate improved content capture methods, making the case for ongoing and collaborative co-design.

UCLan's School of Journalism, through the RCUK-funded Bespoke Project, trialled Nokia Research Center's technology with community users, professional journalists, and student reporters between 2009 and 2011.Test locations included Fort Bastion, Afghanistan, rural Kenya, and Preston and Manchester in the UK. This paper also investigates the tension created when incorporating new platforms with pre-existing newsflows, and looks forward to a newsroom ecosystem where mobile phones are integrated within standard working practices.