Mobile Media Toolkit

Using your iPhone for Audio and Video Reporting

The International Journalist's Network (IJNET) recently published a roundup of tips and tricks for using an iPhone for reporting based on the experiences of Neal Augenstein, a reporter for Washington D.C.'s radio station WTOP who does all his field reporting from an iPhone. The article covers audio and video recording, while highlighting the versatility of smartphone reporting. Some of the top tips from the article are below:

1. Recording and Editing Audio
The post recommends using recording apps (such as VeriCorder) in order to edit audio projects on the phone without needing to connect to an external computer. Users can either use the built-in microphone in the iPhone, or connect an external mic depending on the location of the interviewees and the audio quality of the surrounding area. A good tip to remember is to turn the iPhone's settings to airplane mode so that it can not receive calls; otherwise a call will disrupt the recording.

2. Recording Video
IJNET reports that when recording video, Augenstein recommends using an adapter like XLR adapter because the design of the iPhone means that the built-in microphone faces away from the interviewee during video recordings. The iPhone can also be used to live stream video reports using tools like Ustream, an app that can be directly downloaded onto the phone. Ustream is recommended because viewers can watch the live stream on both the Ustream website, or through embed codes on a reporter's home site.

3. Other Advice
Always carry a phone charger, either for your car or outlets – running out of battery when the phone is your only means of reporting means you'll be out of a story if you're out of battery. IJNET also suggests using the Skype mobile app for live audio reports, because "It has a better signal than a regular cell phones if you are on the road [... and] wi-fi provides a better audio quality than 3G connections." Finally the report also has a suggestion for a quick photo editing solution: in order to crop a photo, just zoom in to the original photo on the area you want to highlight, and then take a screenshot.

Reporting from an iPhone means that reporters can have a full audio, video, and photography recording suite in their pockets. IJNET's advice can help citizen reporters or established journalists to expand their on-the-ground coverage through using smartphones.

Photo via Flickr user theOOBE