Frank Barth-Nilsen from NRK trains mojos, changing the way story telling is done & Reuters Mobile Journalism considers the mojo as a future form of journalism. Hate to tell them, it’s already here! Their toolkit is below:

Being a mojo has its advantages – you can run away faster from bodyguards & there is no heavy camera equipment to slow you down.

“It’s just a phone man!”

Sometimes you can even beat the ‘big guns’ to the punch, like Steve Garfield :

Stories are on the web quicker than you can SMS with live streaming from a mobile using Qik.

In Europe FromDistance is creating waves, specialising in mobile journalism products and services.

In Australia, mojo’s are now being trained up. We are a bit limited, as the availability of unlimited data packages is way too expensive or non-existent with mobile carriers.

I have an X-series Nokia N95 and am with ‘3′, with 200MB a month allowance for $8 on top of my plan. I’m using it more each day; only the other day in the supermarket I did a search on food additives. Call me paranoid.

Smartphones are the most popular for the internet, especially the iPhone. It only has 2% of the smartphone market, yet it is starting to outperform Nokia for internet usage.

Facebook is now on mobile internet. Yes, I have been guilty of checking it, in the dark with the phone on silent (the clicking echoes in the dark), commenting and feeling like a snoop.

Which reminds me … I wonder if I have any comments on this?

Is it internet TV, video journalism or the visual musings of a misguided non-talent? Vlogs offer, in the main, fast paced, quick snippets of visual and the added benefit of stopping content if it bores you to tears in the first minute.

Vlogs allow more human stories at an individual level, such as Alive in Baghdad, not the issue that causes the havoc such as war, filling gaps in mainstream television reporting

However, seeing inside the mind of the operator/performer, which can be messy & damn funny! Ask a Ninja is a twisted yet simple comedy acting as a vlog. Same shtick each week, same formula. Don’t believe me? Check the video below!

Convenience is King. Don’t like it? Stop & leave a comment. Like it? Subscribe through an RSS feed . Interaction feeds the beast and bows to the Vlog God.

Ted.com offers higher quality video, including vlogs and lectures. I posted this video from Mena Trott, below, founding mother blogging. It’s by no means a short piece, but damn funny, informative & self-depreciating.

STOMP, the User Generated Content (USG) news website, has a main focus – its readers, who are also its contributors. In its first six months of launching, STOMP attracted nearly 7% of Singapore’s total population as visitors. Often contributor’s stories make front page of The Strait Times and are spread through the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) group.

Readers become a part of the process by sending in stories to  a dedicated mobile number or by email, so no waiting in a phone queue.

Producers edit & rewrite but also check with the contributor, always to their complete satisfaction.

STOMP is about connections. Connecting with their readers through forums, technology & building social networks.

It is so completely about service and something that Western publishing groups should take note of.

Nothing in Australia comes close in content, application, social inclusion or use of technology, especially the mobile phone. With an IFRA award to STOMP, you would think some Aussie media concern would be doing something similar.

STOMP is full of youthful exuberance and incorporates the latest technology, from the use of mobile technology in a singing competition to vlogs & blogs.

There are even classes to educate their contributors in technology applications.

Convergence has been completely incorporated into the site. It creates communities and connects its members. In fact I doubt that there is anything that they have not included as a topic!

Although it is obviously aimed at the youth market, STOMP have found that middle-aged members are on the increase, especially in the citizen journalism section and forum. There is a good mix of youth and experience.

And that gives me some hope for my job prospects …

Internet related companies don’t stand still for very long & are always looking to expand their products. Take Google for example which owns Picasa & Youtube, 54 companies in all since 2001.

Robert Niles, in Online Journalism Review, reviewed 4 such gallery editors. His criteria was they had to be able to add captions, control the style & how fast the images are displayed – and they had to able to embed as a flash gallery in a website. He chose Picasa, Picturetrail, Bubbleshare & SlideFlickr.

Picasa, owned by Google, proved simple but not good for Mac users. It came a close second. I don’t like that you have to download the software & I found it a little hard for my middle aged brain to contend with!

SlideFlickr came in front. After a bit of manoeuvoring I finally got it. They also claim to be able to do a slideshow in 10 seconds. From start to finish? Not likely – I don’t move THAT fast! Here’s the result:

Imagery in journalism goes hand in hand with text. Each compliments the other with images giving a better overall perspective. Slideshows give the story more depth  & images are easier to upload than large file videos. The “best of” images can be incorporated into a slideshow & uploaded fairly quickly.

Now excuse me while I grab my camera …

Traditional journalism does have restrictions on time and space, as recounted by solo journalist Kevin Sites. Elements of the truth can be manipulated in traditional media. Smaller, personal stories can be told which in turn can create interest in a bigger issue, a reason for the successes of OhMyNews & Witness.

Tools for the mojo (mobile journalist) & moblogger are evolving rapidly. From wireless broadband, video & camera enabled smartphones & wireless keyboards for mobiles, for mojo’s on the move, to compact video cameras as seen in the U.S. elections. The internet demands journos multi-task. This is needed for fast uploading of stories – variety & convenience rules.

Cover It Live video blog is used by leading news agencies & has upload capability from your mobile for faster visual story-telling.

Unless it is getting read – what’s the use? How do you tell? Technorati, in particular, ranks sites, with the more you are linked to other sites, the higher ranking your site achieves. You can also see ranking by fan base numbers:

or comments numbers:

You can also try joining a newsgroup as a community columnist, such as on Newsvine, which also pays the columnist 90% of the advertising revenue generated from your column to you!

Still, unless your writing is credible – forget it. Australian sites ending in .gov.au, .edu.au & .org.au contain more credible information & contacts. Check domain names at Whois. The longer they have been around, the more likely they are to be credible.

Write On!

Every so often a dreamer is born. They don’t listen to their critics, single-minded they will just go out there and follow their dream. After all, aren’t dreams just goals with a face?

In this case, the visionary is Oh Yeon-Ho, CEO of Oh My News, the first Citizen Journalism website.

Armed with an ambitious set of ideals, including gender equality, no age discrimination & power being with the people, Oh Yeon-ho gave new meaning to giving ordinary citizens a ‘voice’ and backed it up with support to ordinary netizens.

Traditional media started to follow his lead by encouraging discussion, especially when papers went online. It became interactive; the public can comment on the story on the website therefore becoming part of the evolving story.

If the writer made front page of OhMyNews, they were paid a small amount & would gain instant credibility through being a featured writer. Money is not driving the contributors to write, it’s more than than that – it’s reputation & recognition. Job satisfaction.

However, “citizen journalism” is not without its potential problems. Maintaining trust, integrity & accuracy is one issue as shown by Jeff Howe when Apple stocks went down after a citizen journalism report on CNN. 

OhMyNews started a Citizen Journalism revolution.

Also the OhMyNews team are forward thinkers. Having restrictions on cross-media ownership in Korea, OhMyNews are pushing live webcasting with uninterrupted content, podcasts & a weekly newspaper. This gives the potential of a a 3 tier approach to media, whilst still using only one platform – the internet.

These timely changes will set OhMyNews up nicely, especially if the Korean Communications Commission comes good with its plans of deregulation of media ownership, so determined are they to become a global media powerhouse.

Maybe this is something Australian officials could take note of?

The Freebie. These days free takes many forms. Free to download, free to join and even free online storeage.

However, how much of it is really free? Much of the “free” is supported by advertising content. Do a Google search and you have click-based advertising, with some of these affiliate driven advertisements, third parties trying to make a dollar off the internet.

Communication has changed with the new generation, with as few words as possible being written and even those are shortened into SMS or Text Speak. A new language has mutated, developing new products to support the novelty, leaving some of us a little bewildered as we try to learn what our kids are saying! It’s not all that gr8.

This new communication feeds the technology addictions that many are falling prey to.

With the many changes taking place in media, will the media business model be able to evolve and mutate? The public radio model has started to use the internet more enthusiastically, adding value with podcasts, whilst still following the business model’s sponsorship and membership criteria.

The notion of FREE has never been more misleading & manipulative. Facebook, a free social network, even involves viewers with what advertising will appear on the advertising side-bar, with a ‘thumbs up or down’ voting system that even asks for a reason!

So next time you think you are avoiding advertising content – look again, it sneaks up on you. Possibly the newest form of subliminal advertising?

User Generated Content (UGC), on these 2 occasions, changed the news cycle forever. Journalism came into the realm of the reader. It became interactive. No longer did the public just read the news, they made it.

The public took to Citizen Journalism like my kids do with a packet of Tim Tams. Not satisfied with just covering it, they experience it & often get right in the thick of it.

So, how reliable is the information? Do they do this for sensational reasons? Who will be responsible if legal issues arise? If so, will it turn into a David versus Goliath scenario?

Citizens have a DIY mentality. Podcasts have set up people as newsreaders, and Vlogs and Moblogs as news gatherers. These all have a viral capability. if one person gets caught up in the vision, they then pass it on to friends. Just how viral it is determines its success.

Without extremely current news, media groups will not survive. UGC supports on-the-spot reporting. In this era, news groups need citizen reporters.

One thing is for sure, the UGC phenomenon is really only just beginning … and its catching!

Faster. Better. Easier to consume. More people are watching less television, reading fewer newspapers and spending more time on the internet. Readers are wanting a more ‘Yum Cha’ experience, smaller servings of a good quality, instead of a 5 course, lengthy experience when reading news. They want excitement!

Convergence is also about access & convenience. The public demands a 24/7 service. Broadband has made content faster & is presented almost as soon as it happens. News has become more honest, stronger & reinforced by other media forms.

Reporters are able to access information, and this is an information business, preferably from a common, central, news centre.  However, the amount of information being disseminated is massive, with information overload causing confusion. Sometimes information is suspect at best & the choice confusing.

Technology that serves a multi-function purpose has become a necessity for the public & reporters, such as the Nokia N95 mobile phone. Reporters are now kitted out with multi-function mobile phones, with video & camera capability, thus doing the job of several professionals, whilst decreasing costs to their employers. The MoJo is born.

Informal partnerships are continuously being formed via blogs, citizen journalism, video content and between the different types of media. Content is not restricted to journalists. Unions, however, may slow the evolutionary process of convergence & depending on the country, there may be media ownership laws.

Multi-media convergence’s success depends on a common-held set of values & goals within an organisation. Egos must be set aside and a mindset of collaboration be held by all, from the owners through to all staff.

Mostly, the future of multi-media is set by us.