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?

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.