Briggs Chapter 5

The effects of mobile media on the journalism industry is showcased in chapter 5 of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” textbook.

The chapter explained London newspaper reporter Nicola Dowling’s experience of filming soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo’s car crash in a London tunnel.  Her Nokia cell phone allowed her to record high-quality video and pictures from the scene of the accident that would have not been possible up until recently.

Briggs also says that mobile media makes the story better, since people can watch, see or read the story as it happens, not in the next day’s news cycle.  He also suggests what equipment is necessary for a mobile journalist, such as a laptop, internet connection and headphones.

Interestingly, mobile devices make it less expensive to publish news on the web.  Briggs says that streaming video from a cell phone allows a company to produce a product that would be much less expensive than the old way of using a pricey camera and costly computer software to put the video online.