iPhone 4 developments herald a mobile future for news

As the iPhone 4 awaits its launch tomorrow (Thursday), speculation has begun to circulate about how its technology will change the world of journalism.

Many argue that the phone's ability to film, edit and share high definition footage will undoubtedly present videojournalists with an incredible tool for the future.

But others question its ability to stand-up to broadcast television quality.

Mobile footage first began filtering into mainstream television news as so-called 'citizen-journalism', providing us with the shocking images of the September 11 terrorist attacks and terrifying Indian ocean Tsunami in 2004.

Since then, thanks to continuing technological developments, the mobile phone has become more widely used as a video device by journalists themselves, although more often by individuals working online than national broadcasters.

But according to some videojournalism experts, this will not be the case for long.

Michael Rosenblum, who owns Rosenblum TV, says mobile phones will "unquestionably" become the tool for the future videojournalist.

"For the quality of broadcast we are probably still one generation away but thats going to close pretty quickly," he told Journalism.co.uk. "We are going to see a quantum shift in journalism. There are 4.6 billion mobile phones in circulation in the world today and I don't think it's unreasonable to say in five years all of them will have video cameras and the ability to live stream.The whole underpinning of what once supported the broadcast network is about to vanish forever."

And today, even in developing worlds, mobile phones are becoming a platform from which almost anyone can report.

"Now we have real journalism for the first time," says Rosenblum.

Experts claim that mobile technologies only make the lives of journalists easier, with products such as the iPhone offering a pocket-sized opportunity to extend the reach of a story.

But Andrew Dickinson, a lecturer at University of Central Lancashire and journalism blogger, said this only really applies to traditional media journalists at the moment.

"If you are out and about as a print reporter, having something in your pocket that can take a photograph and also shoot some video means you are available to do that, you are not limiting yourself," he said. "But I don't think it will necessarily replace the camcorder for a videojournalist.

"It is a tool in the toolbox, just like a notepad is."

As well as improvements to the iPhone's spec, such as the A4 chip to enable fast multi-tasking and a built-in LED flash to light up the darkest shots, a number of editing applications are also available, from iMovie for video to Poddio for the entire radio news packaging process.

But head of ITN News Production, Ed Adams says there is no substitute the camcorder in television news just yet.

"I think you have to consider what your audience is used to seeing," he tells Journalism.co.uk.

"I think people who watch video content on the web and on mobile are more used to seeing rougher footage. But TV is a bit different. TV still needs all the top level kit."

Most commentators agree, however, that mobile footage plays an incredibly vital role in producing news content which would have been impossible in years past.

BBC multimedia journalism trainer Ramaa Sharma, who posted a video on using small cameras in TV news production on the BBC College of Journalism website, says mobile footage has opened the public's eyes to new worlds.

"We are getting pictures from places we might not, rather than just user-generated-content," she said. "A journalist can have a camera on them all the time. It's an exciting time because I don't think that at the moment we have these small cameras that are broadcast quality, but it doesn't seem too finer future when we are going to have smaller cameras where we are shooting and it ends up to TV."

She also claimed that mobile journalists will find it easier to bond with interviewees, who are less intimidated by a familiar device.

"The interesting thing is that because people are so used to talking on phones, when we have done vox-pops they seem to be less startled and more relaxed and open," she says. "That makes for better viewing. Journalists are beginning to be able to form relationships with their subjects or with their interviewees a lot more quickly, a lot more easily and that's coming across well on camera."

Rosenblum adds that viewing mobile phones as a less 'professional' medium for a videojournalist is out-of-date thinking.

"The notion that walking around with a giant box on your shoulder makes you a professional, whereas walking around with a little handheld device is somehow amateurish is rubbish," he says. "It's entirely psychological and we have to reverse out entire way of thinking."

But for most commentators, it all comes down to quality.

"We don’t use clips from these devices a lot, but I think it would happen more if we could get phones in the hands of reporters to produce better video clips," Seth Siditsky, the assistant managing editor for visuals at The Star-Ledger tells Journalism.co.uk.

"We've put a few Blackberry video clips online, and they are extremely poor quality so I don’t like to do it. It is one of the great things about phones like the iPhone and the androids. They produce high quality video, act as an audio recorder, and reporters can blog, text, etc. How can we as journalists not be excited about multipurpose tools?"

Image courtesy of Matt Yohe on Wikimedia Commons

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