Just as the internet created a new kind of journalist, the citizen journalist, the mobile phone has given rise to a new kind of reporter, the citizen reporter. These intrepid individuals use new mobile applications and tools to post local news stories on the internet.
Probably the most popular of these new applications is called MotionCast . This mobile app gives users the ability to post casts (short for broadcasts) directly from the phone to the internet. It is also possible to view video casts from other citizen journalists on your phone.
Most casts deal with local news stories like natural disasters, emergences, political news or even the weather. However, lighter news that include sports stories and celebrity sightings are also quite popular. Some posters also like bloopers and accidents that are funny or entertaining.
But before you start submitting silly casts to websites like MotionCast, it is important to remember that many of these sites consider themselves news sites, and they will only post stories and/or videos that they consider newsworthy.
They are especially interested in local news that is not covered by the major networks and cannot be found online. So get your camera or video phone ready and capture something interested and important, on a local level, if you want to truly earn the title of citizen journalist.
