Chapter five of JournalismNext discusses the importance of smartphones in online and offline journalism. I have always know that my phone can do tricks, but it is key to know how those tricks can be used for my career. Briggs referred to the smartphone as a “Swiss Army Knife,” on pg. 123.
This rings true. Smartphones can not only take videos and pictures at any moment, but those can be immediately uploaded to the internet when service is available. This makes reporting that much faster.
Briggs described the difference between “gearheads” and “light packers.” Gearheads bring loads of fancy equipment with them to do their reporting. This is similar to the amount of luggage that Brad Kalbfeld brought into our class. It really showed us how much less journalists have to carry around these days.
From the other end of the spectrum, the light packers were those who carried smartphones. Sure, those people most likely can’t produce work that appears to have more quality than the gearheads, but their free arms and quick set-up allows them to catch more footage quicker.
Leave a response
You must be logged in to post a comment.