Tag Archives: tools

4 October, 2012 · 3:00 pm

Useful free Android apps for journalists

Updated 16th November 2012:  Some useful applications to get started creating, broadcasting, storing and sharing content from an Android smartphone for journalists (I have experience of the Sony Xperia Neo (don’t laugh) and the HTC One S), many have Apple iOS counterparts: any comments, corrections, suggestions appreciated - @richardkendall

General tools

  • Firstly, depending on your device, I recommend installing the Ice Cream Sandwich Keyboard, does a nice job remembering words and works pretty efficiently
  • Dropbox -  for storing, sending and sharing files securely. Particularly photos galleries.
  • or Google Drive -  (used to be Google Docs) open/write/share documents using a Google account
  • Alternatively for viewing office docs: OfficeSuite Viewer 6 and Adobe PDF Reader
  • Google Translate
  • Google Mail - is a relatively pleasant experience on the HTC/Xperia
  • Tasks/to-dos: Astrid Task/to-do lists -, can sync with Google Tasks, recently updated, still fairly intuitive or Wunderlist, for task organising,  (thanks @chrismccormack1)
  • Evernote - is an impressive note taking/storing tool, with addons for taking audio notes and drawings, and like Dropbox you can sync your files across devices.
  • Power Note –  for saving and syncing bookmarks with your diigo.com account.
  • For articles saved, or for saving on the move, Pocket -formerly Read It Later does a good job of dispalying articles efficiently and syncs across devices
  • The Met Office Weather Application is pretty good for latest forecast and warnings, you can store multiple locations
  • WiFi Finder for scanning for nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and public Wi-Fi

Travel and maps

Browsers

  • Opera Mini  is the best browser I’ve used, it’s pretty quick, enable sending/sharing links etc.
  • Big names Firefox  and Chrome have their own decent Android versions now, and the Dolphin Browser is a strong alternative. All would do a decent job, but I’ve found Opera the most assured.

Social media

  • Twitter‘s own native app is not the worst option, but limited for advanced users.
  • Then there’s the official Twitter alternative, Tweetdeck where you can add multiple streams as columns
  • Hootsuite (which has recently acquired Seesmic) works pretty well as an unofficial alternative and includes Facebook, plus you can schedule tweets as with the desktop/browser version – unlike the Tweetdeck app
  • I’ve also tried TweetCaster  which has plenty of options for sharing/managing found links and information
  • Banjo -  taps into the most popular social networks (includes Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram) around your location (via @markwoodward)
  • Also an additional accessory is Buffer for timing future tweets* (*although this should be used sparingly and wisely)

Multimedia

Because you never know when you might need it: First aid by British Red Cross or St John Ambulance First Aid

And most importantly, for a break or time-killer, the addictive Pocket Soccer

By no means an exhaustive list, I don’t claim to have used every app in depth, but they all have high ratings and/or are backed by reputable developers/brands.

Further reading

Originally published 31 August, 2011

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28 March, 2011 · 11:16 am

Live blogging for journalists

The live blog is an opportunity to curate multimedia content and information from professional and non-professional sources ‘on the ground’, using editorial judgement in what to publish.

It’s a great collaborative tool for news organisations to cover major or breaking events, conferences or big issues using mobile tools and central monitoring to coordinate interactive content publishing, the audience then have the power to feed into the live stream and feel part of the process.

A live blogging strategy

As an example strategy, setup a CoverItLive blog and promote across all your platforms in advance where possible, setup initial questions if possible. Get all your journalist involved using Twitter, all their feeds can be added to the live blog, collectively creating the live blog stream without any other action required in its most basic form.

A manager can monitor the live blog, adding user comments and any related tweets as well as multimedia content and polls into the stream.

Specific Twitter hashtag feeds can be used if appropriate to integrate information from members of the public who may be at the scene and let the audience follow via Twitter if they prefer.

When to use a live blog

It has its place when suitable situations arise or events break as an important digital media publishing strategy that shows what can be achieved coupling journalistic skill and citizen knowledge with readily available digital publishing tools.

Editing and curating is a vital part of the operation, but this is clearly a different area of journalism from reflective, objective long-form pieces that would follow-up online and in print, but all have their value to the audience.

It’s just a new opportunity in a multimedia, multiplatform publishing world.

Further reading:

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16 February, 2010 · 3:58 pm

Twitter for news journalists: why and how

Long exposure layered image of Stars buzzing by two Satellite Communication Antennas to the sky, photo Striking Photography by Bo

Communication to the Stars by Striking Photography by Bo on flickr.com

Making it part of a constructive and nutritious newsroom strategy

Updated, 22 March 2012: Twitter has become accepted by journalists as an opportunity for two-way communication, newsgathering and crowdsourcing, and as a key distribution tool in a fast-moving digital environment. But remember, Twitter is just a tool, like your phone, pen and paper or editorial content management system. It is not a guaranteed saviour of journalism, the answer to newsroom prayers or going to write a story for you – but it can definitely help, especially in an increasingly ‘digital first‘ news publishing environment.

As with any source Twitter information needs verifying, here are some tips from mediahelpingmedia.org, here Alex Murray gives an insight into BBC News’ verification processes, and here Mary Hamilton‘s nine ways to use Twitter responsibly following the UK riots of August 2011. It’s also worth remembering that even in 2012, with a proliferation of smartphones with seamless social media apps and after several high profile events having brought Twitter into the mainstream, whilst the numbers are growing steadily, not everyone is using it, and to varying degrees depending on location, probably only a small proportion of a local audience is tweeting. The key is having a realistic expectation and clear strategy that will dictate levels of success, as Paul Bradshaw puts it:

the tools should come after the strategies, and the strategy should come after the objective

So set some clear objectives on what you want Twitter to achieve for you, find out the most efficient and effective way of using it and then dive in, making sure to take a step back once in a while to see if your strategy is working and what and how others and peers are using social media tools. Plus the next time you go for a media-related job interview, it may well crop up as a question. So here are some tips and quotes I collated for my own local newspaper newsroom team:

  • Sign up to Twitter: as an individual journalist, and be aware that what you say and do represents and reflects you and your news organisation.
  • Remember: this is a professional, public-facing account backed by your news organisation’s brand.
  • My advice on separate accounts for work/non-work tweeting has mellowed: get your own personal account if… what you do out of work is very specific/niche/completely different from your day job, and worth its own Twitterverse. Just make it clear it’s your own views and not those of any employer! Otherwise the odd personal comment or showing some personality does no harm. Read more advice in my curated discussion on storify: “Journalists on Twitter: 1 profile or 2?“
  • Username suggestion: @yournameNewsOrg – needs to be short but memorable, doesn’t have to be strict, but make sure shortening any words doesn’t spell anything odd or inappropriate! – Read my related post on ‘Journalists on Twitter: 1 profile or 2?‘
  • Add professional bio details, who you are, your news title, location, your local patch, what areas of content you cover.
  • Inject some of your own personality into your Tweets, it will help people to ‘warm’ to you as a real person as opposed to just a reporter.
  • If you make a mistake in a tweet, start a new one with “Correction:…”
  • If you’re replying to someone, having their @profilename at the start means only followers of both of you would see it, if it’s something of mass-interest, use a full stop at the beginning to publish it to everyone, “.@localPeeps blah blah…”

Here is a good starting point listing Twitter basics: 10 Must-Learn Lessons For Twitter Newbies - http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/

What’s in it for you

Push: gain a following of interested, local people, share your stories and  ideas for stories. Pull:get feedback/comments/images and video, request help/opinion/information on upcoming stories and ongoing/upcoming events. It may take a while to get a substantial followering: stay enthusiastic, this will give you time to get used to the process, and find your own style.

Feb 2010: New director of BBC Global News Peter Horrocks commented: “Aggregating and curating content with attribution should become part of a BBC journalist’s assignment; and BBC’s journalists have to integrate and listen to feedback for a better understanding of how the audience is relating to the BBC brand. If you don’t like it… then go and do something else, because it’s going to happen. You’re not going to be able to stop it.” Source: Mashable.com

How to manage/tools

Make the process of updating Twitter quick, (here’s what I do): install Firefox or Chrome browser – quicker and more advanced than Internet Explorer, sign up to a bit.ly account (you can use a Twitter account), this will shorten long URL, and enable you to track how many people are clicking on your links.

Then when you want to send an update about your story, click on a link directly from Firefox to open your bitly account, ready for adding your message, it will automatically make and insert a short bit.ly URL of your story. Or use the AddThis Firefox extension or AddThis Google Chrome extension to create your Twitter ready short URL. There may well be sharing buttons on the page asthese are common on news websites.
Tools such as TwitterLocal, Trendsmap and Nearby Tweets help you find tweeps in your community. Try desktop, mobile or web-based apps: Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Twitterfall (web) – ‘specialising in real-time tweet searches. New tweets fall into the page’.

See also by me:  Useful free Android apps for journalists - and: must have iphone apps for journalists by , Ten fantastic apps, tips and tools for recording audio on journalism.co.uk

Tips on using Twitter and suggested tools: some quotes and notes –

  • busy journalists facing too many demands in shrunken newsrooms can’t afford to let anything steal away too much of their day
  • first a caveat: You need to invest some time learning to use Twitter and connecting with followers, primarily people in your community and colleagues who share your professional interests
  • Some days Twitter will provide great value and be worth spending some time
  • Tweet a few times each day. Your tweets don’t have to take much time, but they help you engage with colleagues and your community
  • Check your “mentions.”
  • Search your real name.
  • Using this search and the mentions… engage any time someone is talking to me or about me, without constantly watching the whole stream
  • Use Twitter as a news source
  • Use a mobile Twitter app
  • I would suggest snaptu.com, quick and straightforward to use if you’ve not an iPhone or Android enabled phone – richardkendall
  • You can browse some tweets or fire off a quick tweet while walking to of from your car, while waiting for a meeting to start or riding an elevator or lift! – richardkendall
  • paper.li  - organizes links shared on Twitter and Facebook into a newspaper-style format
  • Twitter lists. Twitter lets you sort the people you follow
  • Advanced Twitter search tips and example operators

More reasons why you should get tweeting

From Twitter for newsroom leaders « Pursuing the Complete Community Connection – Steve Buttry

  • tweeting links to fresh content, crowdsource stories and story ideas and note how it boosts traffic
  • Use your real name, either in username or in your profile.
  • Remember you are representing your company/organisation and anything you say reflects upon you and that organisation - richardkendall
  • Search hashtags and keywords when news breaks, connect quickly with eyewitnesses
  • Use Twitter and CoverItLive together to provide live coverage of events, e.g. live sport
  • Build and help to grow the community,  follow people in your community check their followers/retweeters to find more, benefiting all your followers -richardkendall
  • Don’t underestimate the power of lists to organize and prioritize the folks you’re following
  • See also: Advanced Twitter techniques for journalists « The Buttry Diary

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger on: Why Twitter matters for media organisations, some quotes:

  • Twitter is a “highly effective way of spreading ideas, information and content
  • “increasingly, news happens first on Twitter
  • “reporters are now habitually using Twitter as an aid to find information… requests for knowledge… witnesses to specific events
  • “alert your community of followers. In marketing speak, it drives traffic and it drives engagement”…

Sarah Booker adds key points including:

  • Monitor the activities and discussions in your community.
  • Connect with colleagues and share ideas with them.
  • “Crowdsource” stories by asking for story ideas or information.
  • Quickly find people who witnessed or experienced an event.
  • Drive traffic to your content.
  • Improve your writing as you learn to make points directly in just 140 characters.

Further reading/viewing:

This post was originally published on 16th February 2010. I’ve been constantly tinkering and updating ever since as the web and social media never sleeps and is in a state of constant change.

Image used can be found here: Communication to the Stars by Striking Photography by Bo on flickr.com

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