Blockchain, vertical video and podcasting: Here is your weekly journalism news update

Every Friday, Journalism.co.uk brings you a round-up of our week’s top stories, giving you all the information you need to know, wherever you are. 

Here's the latest journalism news from this week:

‘A new kind of content for a new kind of audience’ – Irish broadcaster RTÉ experiments with vertical video

Image by RTÉ

Irish broadcaster RTÉ has been experimenting with the production of vertical video, using iPhones to shoot, edit and title content for mobile audiences on social media.

Mobile journalists Eleanor Mannion and Philip Bromwell produced 12 vertical videos ahead of Pope Francis's visit to Ireland last weekend, which were published on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

'We don't have to be afraid of our government, but they really do' – Newsroom challenges at Efecto Cocuyo, Venezuela

As the journalism industry continues to evolve and change, encouraging newsrooms to adopt an audience-first strategy is one of the key focuses of innovation agency Hackastory – but what happens when your audience are regularly fed disinformation by their government, and many of them do not have internet access? 

Back in April this year, two members of the Hackastory team, who are based in the Netherlands, visited Efecto Cocuyo, one of the last independent news outlets in Venezuela.

The twists and turns of audio storytelling with Andy Mills

Image by Pexels

Andy Mills, the co-creator of The Daily and Caliphate at The New York Times explains how his podcasting journey started, and how he tasks risks to hook listeners in as they get more used to the medium of podcasting.

“Luckily the NYT took a big risk by hiring a person like myself. I’m not the kind of smart that a lot of people here are and I have a peculiar background in this world, but it ended up being really great because I feel like I am doing exactly what it was I was aiming to do.”

Blockchain tech has the power to fight censorship — but it can help fake news stay forever

Publiq, which describes itself as a non-profit foundation, uses blockchain technology to create a new, decentralised environment for content publishing. Their aim is to bypass centralised management of the media sector and give authors the freedom to publish their content without any external intervention. As a bonus, blockchain technology helps authors retain copyright and monetise their work. 

Publiq is founded on blockchain, which means no one can modify content at any stage of its publishing and sharing. Dr. Christian de Vartavan, adviser and global ambassador at Publiq, compares the principle of blockchain technology to an old-fashioned bill spike: you pile up the bills by sticking them on the spike one by one, and you can’t remove or modify any of the previous bills unless you take everything off, which is simply impossible with blockchain. 

The next newsrewired digital journalism conference will take place on 7 November 2018 at Reuters in Canary Wharf, London.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Journalism.co.uk team has been working on the programme for the event, and we’re pleased to announce our first session ideas we are currently developing.

The tickets (£190+VAT) give you access to the full-day conference on Wednesday 7 November 2018 and include lunch and refreshments, as well as after-event networking drinks and a delegate ‘goodie’ bag. 

Book your place here.

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