In a pinch? Use your smartphone to report

You’re a journalist. You’re out in the field, not at the news station, without a camera. You also don’t have a tripod, or any other fancy bells and whistles typically used to record a news story. What do you do?

Well, you don’t have to quit your TV news job to become a print journalist, you can actually create your story with something you already have; a smartphone.

Smartphones can record great video. Apple devices can record in high definition, meaning that today’s smartphones are up to the standard of many broadcast television news stations. So, why not use them?

A few weeks ago, I was in a pinch. I had one hour to grab an interview and some broll for a news package I needed to create, as well as get a quick interview that my station, TROY TrojanVision News, could play on the air (as a VO/SOT). I didn’t have a broadcast camera on hand, and figured I’d use my iPhone.

For scenarios like this one, I find it useful to have a mobile journalism backpack. In this backpack, I have a mini tripod, headphones, a laptop computer, a clip-on lapel microphone, notebooks, pencils and obviously my smartphone. The bag serves as a place to keep anything I may need on the fly.

So, the story…

Troy University Dean of Student Services Herbert Reeves sent out this simple, little email to the student body that served as a lead to a potential story:

“Interested in Becoming a Resident Assistant—Please See the Attached Flyer”

I said it was simple. Anyways, the flyer expressed how the university was on the search for new resident assistants for the upcoming school year. If you know anything about student journalism, some days can be slow. Anytime you have a lead, you better run with it.

I was informed by TROY TrojanVision News that the station needed a story for that night’s newscast, so my story was bumped up to air sooner.

I headed to Troy University’s Shackelford Hall to find someone in the housing office to speak with. Sabrina Foster, the Assistant Director of Housing, was (thankfully) available for a quick interview.

I then rushed out of the building to capture some video of some on-campus residence halls. Within 30 minutes, I grabbed the interview, filmed broll at three dorms then grabbed another interview to roll as a soundbite on TV. Viewers would have never known that I was in such a rush to get the stories covered, or that I filmed off a smartphone.

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