By Tom McKee
The names Videolicious, HootSuite and SoundCloud aren't part of some newly created language.
The names Videolicious, HootSuite and SoundCloud aren't part of some newly created language.
They're among new tools available for journalists worldwide working in the
digital age.
That's according to Doug Haddix and Kevin Smith of the
Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at The Ohio State University in
Columbus.
Haddix and Smith presented what they called their
"Digital Dirty Dozen" during the Excellence In Journalism 2014
(EIJ14) conference in Nashville.
EIJ14 was a three day gathering of members from the
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Radio TelevisionDigital News
Association (RTDNA).
The pair researched hundreds of offerings to come up with
their list, which was presented to over 100 conference attendees.
NOTE TAKING - "DRAGON DICTATION" (for iPads and iPhones)
Reporters can record notes that are translated into text
and can be e-mailed.
SOCIAL MEDIA -- "BANJO"
This is a search engine for public posts that Haddix says
"will rock your world." It'a a
free mobile app. When location services
are turned out, you'll be shown the public comments being sent around you. That includes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
and Google+. Reporters can also type in
the name of any city to check what's being posted.
This is an "editor in your pocket" that helps
walk the user through story development.
It's seen as a good tool for young reporters to see what's missing in a
story and what sorts of questions need to be asked.
The free version allows the user to monitor up to five
different platforms.
People can be tracked, posts can be scheduled down to the
minute and the site includes built-in analytics.
AUDIO - "SOUNDCLOUD"
Allows the recording of quality sound from iPhones that
shareable via the cloud. It enables
precise editing.
AUDIO - "TWISTED WAVE"
There's a $10 charge and it's iOS compatible, but it's
great for capturing interviews and sound.
It's described as sophisticated, but containing easy editing features.
CROWD-SOURCING - "GOOGLE FORMS"
This is a secure, web-based item that you don't need to
know programming to set up. It's housed
in Google drive. The infomation is fed
into a master spreadsheet that can also be transferred to Google maps.
PHOTO & VIDEO - "PRO CAMERA 7"
This is for Apple iOS7 operating systems.
DATA MINING - "DATA.GOV"
This is the doorway into 113,000 data sets that can be
pulled up by category or location. It's
an excellent place to go for data on comparison stories.
VIDEO EDITING - "VIDEOLICIOUS"
This allows editing on a phone, tablet or laptop. It's described as fairly simple to use for
editing clips that are no longer than one minute.
MAPPING -- "MapaList"
This connects directly into Google and allows point or
heat maps to be created and sent directly to web sites.
SHARING - "TWITTER"
"This is the perfect tool for journalists,"
according to Haddix and Smith.
"It's proven effective at sourcing, reporting,
finding ideas, research and sharing."
This saves, analyzes and exports tweets before they
vanish. Three archives cost $15 a month
and there's a one month only fee of $20 which covers special events.
Internet Public Library, which is run by a consortium of
public libraries.
Background information can be organized by topics or
keyword searches.
.JPG)
(Pictured: Doug Haddix and Kevin Z. Smith of the Kiplinger Center for Public Affairs
