UP to 16 journalists completed a three-day training in Honiara last Friday on how to produce news using mobile phones.
Australian-government funded Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS), in collaboration with the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI), organized the Mobile Journalism (MOJO) training.
MASI president Georgina Kekea said mobile journalism has emerged as a new, affordable form of story-telling using smartphones to gather, edit and distribute news.
“With your smartphone, you can capture quality videos, photos and audio and produce the news from any location,” Mrs Kekea, also one of the training facilitators, told participants.
The training aims to support journalists to:
· Develop better understanding of smartphone capabilities and accessories for collecting multimedia content for stories
· Cultivate skills in smartphone photography, videography and audio recording suitable for professional broadcast
· Increase familiarity with online content-sharing and distribution platforms
· Adapt reporting practices to prepare for the future of media and working in a mobile-first world
· Improve the quality of mobile reporting in Solomon Islands.
Participants came from mainstream media, Solomon Islands National University (SINU) Journalism Program, as well as freelancers.
Gizo-based reporters for the two daily papers participated via zoom.
Charles Kadamana, chief of staff for Island Sun newspaper, said the training was an eye-opener.
“I’ve been in the media industry for almost 20 years now but did not realise that you can use your mobile phone to capture quality videos and edit them on your phone,” Kadamana said.
“This training helped me to realise exactly that,” Kadamana added.
PACMAS representative in Honiara Nina Tuhaika encouraged participants to return to their newsrooms and apply, as well as share, their new-found mobile journalism skills.
