MOBILE JOURNALISM: the emergence of a new field of journalism

Abstract

– This article was developed within the scope of the Erasmus+ PAgES project, and it aims to investigate mobile journalism (mojo) as a new digital journalism technique that is based upon three characteristics: agility, flexibility, and accessibility. The proposed hypotheses are that mobile journalists can produce news content quickly and also include a greater variety of formats. In addition, access to remote locations and characters for interviews has been facilitated. Exploratory research tested these hypotheses using a mixed-method approach: an online survey (53 responses), to assess the degree of agreement/disagreement of the mobile journalists themselves regarding the hypotheses; and four interviews with experts to understand their perceptions of this new approach to journalism. The result of the research was favorable to the hypotheses and confirmed the process of individualization in journalism. It also ratified mojo as a journalistic technique suited to the demands of the 21st-century media industry.RESUMO – O artigo foi desenvolvido no escopo do projeto Erasmus+ PAgES e tem como objetivo investigar o jornalismo móvel (mojo) enquanto nova técnica do jornalismo digital, destacando três características: agilidade, flexibilidade e acessibilidade. As hipóteses apontam para que o jornalista móvel seja capaz de produzir conteúdo jornalístico com rapidez, incluindo maior variedade de formatos, além de ter o acesso facilitado aos locais mais afastados e aos personagens para as entrevistas. Para testá-las, realizou-se uma pesquisa exploratória através de uma metodologia mista: um questionário online, que obteve 53 respostas, para avaliar o grau de concordância ou discordância dos próprios jornalistas móveis em relação às hipóteses; também se realizaram quatro entrevistas com especialistas, para entender suas percepções acerca do fenômeno. O resultado da pesquisa se mostrou favorável às hipóteses, além de confirmar o processo de individualização laboral no jornalismo e o mojo enquanto técnica jornalística adequada às exigências do mercado da comunicação no século XXI.RESUMEN – El artículo se desarrolló en el ámbito del proyecto Erasmus+ PAgES y tiene como objetivo investigar el periodismo móvil (mojo) como una nueva técnica del periodismo digital, destacando tres características: agilidad, flexibilidad y accesibilidad. Las hipótesis apuntan a que el periodista móvil podrá producir contenido periodístico de forma rápida, incluyendo una mayor variedad de formatos, además de tener un acceso más fácil a los lugares más remotos y los personajes para las entrevistas. Para ponerlas a prueba se realizó una investigación exploratoria con una metodología mixta: una encuesta en línea, que obtuvo 53 respuestas, para evaluar el grado de acuerdo o desacuerdo de los propios periodistas móviles con respecto a las hipótesis; también se realizaron cuatro entrevistas con expertos para comprender sus percepciones del fenómeno. El resultado de la investigación fue favorable a las hipótesis, además de confirmar el proceso de individualización laboral en el periodismo y el mojo como técnica periodística adecuada a las exigencias del mercado de la comunicación en el siglo XXI.

Mojo in Tribun Jogja: A 21st Century Journalism Landscape

“…One person can cover multiple news formats and be able to perform all stages of the news production cycle, from production to editing and distribution on the network, all on the same mobile device and reporting from events (Canavilhas, 2021;Westlund, 2019;Westlund & Quinn, 2018). For this reason, Mojo is also in line with the trends of individual journalism and multitasking (Blankenship & Riffe, 2021;Rodrigues et al, 2021). However, not only mobile devices but journalists also need a "multimedia mindset" to optimize the digitalization era (Cervi, Pérez Tornero, & Tejedor, 2020;Quinn, 2011).…”

“…Accordingly, media promotes news through mobile devices as "smartphones place a full-fledged production studio for radio, television, text and content." social in your pocket" (Rodrigues et al, 2021). Then, the third characteristic is accessibility, which means journalists must be fast to remote locations and approach people for interviews.…”

“…Mobile devices and platforms have become the main instrument for 21st-century journalists in processing and producing an event (Bui & Moran, 2020). New avenues open in the relationship between media users, user-journalists, and media journalists through the mediation of technology enabled by mobile devices (López-García, Silva-Rodríguez, Vizoso-García, Westlund, & Canavilhas, 2019) Mobile journalism, known as Mojo, is becoming an increasingly popular practice in journalism as mobile devices have taken the lead in the production of digital news content, as well as being the most widely used device by the public for news consumption (Rodrigues, Baldi, & Gala, 2021). At first, the term was thought to be a successor to multimedia journalism, but it is a new field with its characteristics.…”

“…Mojo only uses smartphones as a comprehensive production unit for news gathering, editing, and dissemination (Richardson, 2021;Salzmann, Guribye, & Gynnild, 2021). They use only mobile devices to create content and enhance the functionality of those tools as their professional tools (Rodrigues et al, 2021;Scolari et al, 2012). Mojo sees the integration of mobile technology as a mix of personal, environmental, and audience factors (Perreault & Stanfield, 2019).…”