Photo by tomscy2000

How are journalists and broadcasters adapting to the constantly evolving tools, platforms and techniques of newsgathering?  We asked mobile video expert and former BBC journalist Mark Egan.

Mark is a Eurovision Academy faculty member. He is running a MoJo training workshop for the Prix Italia, in Lampedusa.

Is MoJo the way forward for journalism?

Absolutely. There are a few factors that are making mobile journalism a no-brainer. 

Firstly the demand for content, especially video, is higher than ever. However, budgets do not make it possible to hire more people or camera crews. Everyone has a smartphone so it makes sense to use this to meet this demand. 

Secondly, the audience is mobile. There are more mobile devices than people nowadays in most developed countries. It is often easier to create content for certain platforms using those same platforms.

Thirdly, anyone who is interested in attracting a younger audience? Where is that younger audience? Social media of course. It is simple to use the apps on your phone to create content for social media. This makes it far easier to engage younger audiences. 

One final point is that the speed of innovation in smartphones is incredible. They will only get better and more powerful than they are today. 

What are the advantages both when it comes to breaking news and to longer features?

There are so many examples of mobile journalism and breaking news. When the Brussels airport attack happened, SKY News UK had a reporter and a camera operator waiting to board a flight. They could immediately go live using what they had, their smartphones. With a mobile phone, you can feed photos, video, audio, text and go live if you are in a breaking news situation. No other tool can match that.

As far as longer features go, I think the main advantage of using a smartphone is that it puts people at ease. Nick Garnett, a BBC radio reporter, did some fantastic reports after the Paris terrorist attacks using his iPhone. People do not feel threatened by a phone, whether it is for video or audio. That means you often get a more natural and authentic response to your questions.  It can also give you a unique visual style. 

 Al Jazeera even shot an entire documentary in Syria during the initial uprising. That was because a phone does not identify you as a journalist. Therefore, safety is another factor. 

Does it increase interactivity with the public?

In the past journalists had limited feedback from the audience. Nowadays with social media, you can take the audience with you as your create your stories. 
If a journalist chooses to interact on social media, then their mobile phone allows them to do that. The other factor is that the audience now feels empowered to contribute to the story.

How well news media – especially public service broadcasters – are adapting and adopting new solutions?

Certain uses of mobile journalism are quite well accepted. For instance, grabbing a bit of rough video during a breaking news situation. That is now seen as a basic part of a journalist's job. 

Stations like RTÉ Ireland have tried to push things further and have produced some beautiful pieces shot exclusively on iPhones.

The problem is that it is currently seen as a bit of an add-on to the way things have always been done. I feel broadcasters still do no treat the mobile phone like a proper, professional tool. 

We are so used to using "professional" equipment while the public uses "consumer products"; it is hard to accept that something like a smartphone can be used as a professional news-gathering device. It is great that we can make content that looks like it was made by more traditional methods, but I think there could be a lot more innovation.

One really simple example is BBC Sports commentator Conor McNamara who uses apps like PicPlayPost to create special 20 second match reports after football games. This is not TV or radio. It is content created on mobile, for mobile.

In what way MoJo could enhance storytelling especially when it comes to stories like the so called refugee crisis?

The thing about MoJo storytelling is that it can be anything you want it to be. You have the power to tell your story in photos, video, live video, audio, text or a mixture of all this. One example relating to the refugee crisis is from the Bild newspaper in Germany.  

Their reporter Paul Ronzheimer used apps like Periscope to travel with refugees and tell their story.  He was literally walking alongside refugees streaming live and asking them questions. What makes this interesting is that viewers could pose questions and Paul could get those answered live on the spot. Bild then turned all this content into a short documentary.

In the past you would need a satellite truck and multiple staff on the ground to even get close to achieving that. 

What can we expect from the future? Is it something every video journalist should learn?

Here is the thing most broadcasters are slow to realize: my iPhone can already shoot 4k quality video. That is roughly four times high-definition. It has some weaknesses but they will go away fast. 

If you think your phone is powerful now, it will seem an embarrassing museum artefact in the not too distant future. 

For this reason, broadcasters need to make sure that every person in their organisation can use their smartphone properly, not just in emergencies. 

Mobile is the way forward so everything must be mobile-first and the first step is making sure every single person in the building can make high quality, professional content on mobile devices for the mobile audience. Look around you next time you are on a train or in a cafe. Everyone has their heads buried in their phones and tablets. That is your audience. 
You have the world's most powerful ever newsgathering device in your hands. Use it to create stories that audience is interested in and public service broadcasting can have a bright future.