Never before have “ordinary” people acting as citizen journalists been able to post their written, audio, and video reports for the world to see and hear.Free and inexpensive software for cellular phones and on the Internet is making it easy for just about anyone to report on everything -- from matters of global importance to local events.Cellphone manufacturers are aware of the trend, and many are bundling software designed to facilitate posting online.
Mobile social media site ShoZu develops software making it very easy to post camera phone photos.The company has expanded its cellular client to include posting not only to a variety of photo albums from cellular operators and third-party sites, but also to Weblog, video sharing, and social networking sites.Weblog companies, such as TypePad, offer free cellular phone software for Windows Mobile, Symbian, and iPhone handsets to post text and videos. Cellphone maker Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) offers software from the photo sharing site Flickr and the blog service Vox for posting photos.
Going beyond words and pictures, a huge number of services and software applications are available for posting videos to the Internet.Words and still photos certainly aren’t going away, but millions of people around the world are increasingly watching consumer videos of news events.
Live cellular broadcasting services Several companies have launched sites for free video hosting from cellphones, such as ComVU, Qik, Kyte.tv, and Flixwagon.You typically need to first download software to your phone to transmit your broadcast, either via cellular or WiFi.It’s often better to use WiFi (if your phone has the feature) because the data rate typically is faster.Faster speeds for uploading generally result in higher-quality videos with less pixilation and “stuttering.”
Video cellphones are great for spur-of-the-moment reports and are often allowed into locations where large camcorders are banned.But when it comes to getting the best video and audio quality, these phones can’t hold a candle to employing even a mediocre-quality camcorder and microphone in conjunction with your desktop or laptop computer.
In the past year or two, we’ve seen several Internet sites that cater to broadcasts -- live and on-demand -- from computers rather than phones.Ustream.tv, Justin.tv, Mogulus, and Operator11 are some of the most well known video broadcasting services.Some of these sites offer pretty sophisticated broadcasting tools, and they all are continually improving their capabilities.Check out Robin Good’s Master New Media Website for reviews about many of these services.
Getting out the word One problem for all these sites, whether they host broadcasting from phones or computers, is letting people know about the broadcasts.What good is having hundreds or thousands of people broadcasting live to these sites if no one knows about them?
One solution is to employ existing Web tools, including social networking.For example, Qik enables its users to easily sent “tweets” to Twitter subscribers to alert them of live broadcasts.Qik also allows users to broadcast simultaneously to its site and Justin.TV.Another great feature is enabling viewers to email questions and comments to people shooting live Qik videos, with the messages appearing directly on the phone’s screen during the recording.
What if you have a low-resolution camera phone, and your photos and videos aren’t high quality?For improving your videos, check out MotionDSP’s new, free site, FixMyMovie.For editing videos, look into Jumpcut and Eyespot.For editing your photos, explore Picnik.
All of these Web services and tools won’t magically transform a “citizen” into a journalist, any more than owning a scalpel will transform him or her into a surgeon.But they are making it easier for consumers to produce high-quality reports, and it’s transforming the news business.
Just as a significant percentage of Web sites in other categories will fail, so will many of the citizen journalism sites eventually fail. Few, if any, of these sites will offer subscription services, let alone obtain sufficient subscriptions to become profitable. Advertising is, of course, the main revenue generator for most sites on the Web, including citizen journalism sites, and there's only so much advertising revenues to go around.
In the long run, I suspect that a few citizen journalism sites will succeed -- the ones with the highest quality. And, who is a "citizen journalist"?
That said, "citizen journalism" also could include celebrity and sports "reporting." These mass market sites -- that are more interested in catching Britney Spears without her underwear or shooting a video of a drunken baseball player -- could survive, too, on advertising.
I'm actually not too alarmed by so-called declining standards in journalism. Great newspapers and magazines continue to have great reporters. The problem is the business model for publishing is in such a flux that so many reporters and other staff are being laid off. Traditional reporting is filled with junk, such as the celebrity publications. Life is filled with junk!
I do realize, though, that sometime people's "standards" will lower. For example, wireless phones have changed what we are willing to accept. When we had only landline phones in the United States, the quality was typically excellent; it was the envy of the world. Then we got cordless phones, often with terrible audio quality, but we accepted them because of the convenience. Now we have cellular phones, also often with terrible quality.
More and more people are giving up their landline phones for cellular. I won't do that for business because cellular quality isn't good enough, although my business phone is VoIP (AT&T CallVantage) that typically is as good as a landline.
As for protecting the rights of citizen journalists, there are lots of arguments in the U.S. and abroad. A very controversial subject. The Electronic Freedom Foundation is a great place to start for researching this.
Update: You might find this interesting -- about whether bloggers are journalists. It's by James Kendrick, the editor of the excellent jkOnTheRun weblog about mobile technology.
Whilst technologically we may be equiped with tools to participate in journalism, my concern though is the growing number of Citizen Journalist Sites. Some of these sites have contracts with AP like this one in Canada:
Whilst the people running these sites are making money, the ordinary folks giving them the information are for the most part not receiving anything. Do you the long time sustainability of these sites?
Another concern though will be that of standards in the journalistic profession. As a professional journalist, don't you fear that in the very near future standards governing your profession would be eroded at an alarming rate by this so call 'citizen journalism'?.
I'm certainly still learning how to think! The younger you are, the more accustomed you are to being bombarded with information on a real-time and on-demand basis. What we consider to be a "flood" of data will be considered relatively minor in the next 10, 20 years.
I'd like to see courses in elementary schools that would teach "thinking." I'd also like to see courses in elementary schools that teach the "digital life." Alas, our public education system is, in general, rather primitive.
I do like having the choice to choose from a variety of news
sources on the web and I think this hybrid combination is one of the things
that make the web a great source for news.
The explosive production of information on
the web includes both good and bad content but, as an audience, we need to become
accustomed to questioning information rather than just believing them.
As the father of the consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, once
asked him: “Did you learn how to believe, or did you learn how to
think?"
Journalism certainly is in turmoil as more consumers get their news from the Web. Publishers are struggling to find business models that will enable them to pay for high-quality articles from professional reporters as consumers increasingly are getting their news from the Web for free. It's a very tough business and no easy answers.
As a former full time professional journalist who is now a wireless data consultant (and some freelance journalism/writing on the side), I can certainly empathize and try to analyze this business. Without a doubt the combination of the Web with computers, wireless networks and devices, and software are enabling almost anyone to post information.
I don't like the term "citizen broadcaster" any more than I'd like the term "citizen dentist" or "citizen mechanic." As I wrote, having the tools doesn't mean you have the ability. But we are indeed witnessing the explosion of an unprecedented amount of information being published. Although some people are decrying the "cult of the amateur," I think many (not all) consumers will learn -- and are learning -- how to differentiate among good and bad information. This is not, however, easy. What is "truth"?
Time and time again we see how governments and corporations try to suppress free speech -- and serious abuses -- and how the Internet is enabling people to get out the word.
As majority of the major corporate news services are consolidating with one
another thus, decreasing the diversity of views and the quality of journalism,
these tools will create a revival in independent journalism.
This will enable those in areas where the government suppresses free speech
to get their voices out to the global audience.In addition, it will allow for citizens to report on issues that the corporate
media refuses to cover.
We are once again seeing how the Internet is deconstructing an existing
industry.
Yep, it's important for the world (or a subset of it!) to know when these live cellular broadcasts are occurring. Companies like Qik certainly are thinking about ways to make this happen.
Perhaps we will all have a second monitor where multiple live broadcasts are constantly appearing and software will be able to dynamically pick out key words to alert us to relevant broadcasts. Frankly, I'd like to learn more about the process of searching for key words in videos on a real-time or almost real-time basis.
Look at the home page of Mogulus for a look at the possible future of broadcasting. Most of the world doesn't yet understand the revolution of real-time wireless streaming.
As a former full-time journalist, I agree that consumers posting streaming cellular videos, archived camcorder videos, weblog entries, etc. can indeed make journalists better at their jobs. Not only can consumers post information that journalists (even the best of them) can miss, but they also provide a new perspectives. Your comments -- and others on "Internet Evolution," for example -- highlight that.
A well known technology journalist, Dan Gillmor, is famous for popularizing the phrase, "my readers know more than I do."
I just want to re-echo on the closing remarks of your post about getting the word out. I think this one is very crucial if the concept of participatory journalism is to blossom as lot of ordinary people may be having alot of information for public consumption. I came across this article which support your view of using twitter to get the word out:
I think with the increasing technological help from the mobile companies as mentioned in your post, participatory journalism would be an exciting propspect. I agree with you that these tools would not tranform us over night to "journalist" but at least they can help reinvigorate our amateur journalistic experience and may even better some of the crappy journalists out there.
The "mystery shopper" is an interesting idea. But if the shopper is shooting photos and videos, it might not be much of a "mystery" to stores, which might escort the shopper from the premises! Also, stealth audio and video recording could be illegal.
However, the idea of using mobile Internet tools for research has value. I don't know of any efforts underway, although perhaps there are some trials. I'd certainly be interested in learning of any.
Taking an example of a mystery customer going to the store to track the service experience. Currently most visits are posted into a portal once the customer is out of the store . In a mobile scenario, the portal could be be available online on the mobile, could allow the upload of audio and video data of the interaction in near real time. Thus the recording of the encounter could be more realistic. Thats how i see it developing..
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Apple Inc. yesterday said it would "reinvent textbooks" with its new iBooks Author Macintosh software for creating interactive, multimedia-rich e-books for the iPad. Apple might not only help accomplish that, but also help "reinvent" many other types of books, and even be valuable for enterprises.
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AT&T yesterday killed its deal to purchase T-Mobile USA, which generated hurrahs from consumers, businesses, and government officials who saw the buyout as terrible for the US wireless industry.
For years, I've been wishing for cellphone plans where data -- not voice -- was the primary driver and monthly prices were reasonable. Much to my surprise, a few companies began emphasizing data in 2011, and with good pricing. Next year might be even more interesting, perhaps even yielding a free wireless service.
For many years, stores have been using a variety of methods to watch shoppers. But this holiday season, as you're blithely wandering in malls around the world, your cellular phone may be tipping off retail spying as never before.
Social Business: A New World of Opportunity Social networking has become part of the fabric of everyday life, changing the way people and communities connect, interact, and share information. By applying new modes of networking, collaboration, and mobility to core business processes, enterprises have opportunities to realize value that wasn’t accessible or available before. READ THIS eBOOK
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Today's infants quickly move from the womb to a touchscreen. A survey by Common Sense Media found that half of children under eight years old access a mobile device like a smartphone, a video iPod, or a tablet; and experts are mulling the ramifications of this.
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TV networks aren't liking Time Warner's new streaming strategy, even though it's only targeted at in-home iPads – and Netflix wants to produce its own TV series. This is proof that fresh content may be a critical asset for online video.
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A decade after the dotcom boom, the Internet continues to dramatically change the way that business gets done and individuals communicate. More than a trillion email messages traveled over the Net last year, and dramatic changes loom on the horizon.
MySpace is reinventing itself by focusing on content, but it's too late, and other social networks should learn from its example by looking toward a telco payment model if they want to sustain user commitment and their own revenue.
Corporations have been gradually creating more video content, but in many cases they lack the tools to easily find that video information later. Companies like Meditrxstream and VMIX have been delivering products to help with that process.
Internet-enabled learning (online schools) and certifications have combined to produce rich IT talent pools just as the jobs market is starting to accelerate. Win-win!
As it turns out, Nicole wasn't alone in thinking that TwitterPeek – the $300 single-purpose device just for Tweeting – was the most useless device to ever be released.
Malware designed to infect Google Android smartphones has increased dramatically, and now the government is stepping in. The National Security Agency has developed SE Android, a system that tries to close up its security holes.
Disaster recovery is about restoring service to users, but when restoration times are protracted, companies should empower users so they have maximum flexibility for dealing with their situations.
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