It is ironic, or just plain frustrating, that I’m blogging about video and cannot for the life of me get video to work in this blog. I can at Blogger. I cannot at Edublogs. Highlights my ignorance.
Mobile journalism is a lot more exciting than my 2.0 woes. A mobile phone is a versatile tool for a reporter, giving her flexibility more difficult to come by with a typical camera+tripod+camera operator etc set up. While footage captured on a mobile camera is great for creating a sense of urgency or action, the shaky nature of handheld filming means the result is difficult to watch for sustained periods, and maybe not always suitable for broadcast. Mobile filming does give more of a subjective view and a sense of involvement, compared to the more objective, audience-as-observer style.
At a Reuters Mobile Phone Reporting seminar a journalist – Matt – made the comment that mobile journalism is in its infancy and there is definitely room for improvement. He suggests incorporating a tripod and steadycam, as well as a better lighting system.
Steve Garfield is an American journalist who is experimenting with mobile journalism – posting videoblogs and streaming footage live from his phone to his site. Here are his tips for videoblogging.
Reuters is also investing in mobile journalism, though it doesn’t appear that it is being utilised for serious news reporting.
In February, MediaShift identified “5 videoblogs that do it right“. Looking at the diverse examples highlights how inadequate the term ‘videoblog’ (and its derivatives) has become. So many sites these days use a range of content that the idea of splitting them into blogs and vlogs seems reduntant. We are after all talking about multimedia.
Alive in Baghdad is for me the easiest of the sites to endorse. The weekly video dispatches fill a problematic void in media coverage of the Iraq war, and provides invaluable insight into the everyday lives of Iraqi’s living in a warzone, It humanises the conflict in a way typical news media footage of the aftermath of carbombs and abused prisoners in Abu Ghraib never can.
The death of one of AiB’s reporters, Ali Shafeya, in December last year highlights how perilous the environments in which journalists work can be. This is particularly pertinent in light of today’s story about ABC correspondent Peter Lloyd’s post-traumatic stress disorder and the trouble in which he finds himself as a consequence.
The other videoblogs – Mobuzz TV, Ask a Ninja, Wine Library TV and Rocketboom - all serve as good reminders of the wealth of content that is on the net, if only you look. Content aside, the production values were universally high – which comes at a formidable expense judging from Mobuzz TV’s fundraising drive at the moment.
Rocketboom, which became an “overnight sensation” in 2004, publishes daily video in short episodes. The tone is ironic and punchy and I can see why it has become so popular.
Understandably all these sites, except AiB, are American. I’d like to see what vlogs are out there from Australia and other (I guess English-speaking) countries.
