Facebook Groups:
- Mojofest is the largest social forum for mobile storytellers around the world. It is a public Facebook Group for journalists, NGOs, businesses and academics. It has over 7000 members and is a place to post questions about equipment, apps and workflow, and share examples of your work.
- Mojo Latam is a private Facebook Group for mobile journalists in Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries.
- iPhone Reporter is a private Facebook Group for journalists to share tips and techniques when reporting with an iOS phone or device.
- Luma Fusion Users is a public Facebook Group for people using the Luma Fusion app.
- KineMaster Help is a public Facebook Group for people using the KineMaster app.
Conferences:
- Mojofest is an international conference celebrating all things in mobile content creation – from journalism to public relations to documentary-making to cinematography to photography. Follow @mojofestival on Twitter for updates.
- Mobile World Congress is an annual technology event about new smartphones and associated technology. It is less relevant for journalists but useful to follow on Twitter for technical updates and announcements.
Film Festivals:
- Toronto Smartphone Film Festival (TSFF)
This festival has been running since 2012, and receives well over 600 film submissions from dozens of countries each year. Submissions are open to both amateur and professional filmmakers. - Mobile Film Festival (MFF)
The MFF is a huge festival which is hosted online, making it accessible to filmmakers anywhere in the world. The festival’s Facebook Page has around 40,000 followers, so if you submit a film your work may be seen by thousands of people even if you don’t win an award. - Mobile Motion Film Festival (MOMO)
MOMO is an annual festival in Switzerland for filmmakers of all backgrounds and skill levels. - Smartphone Flick Fest (SF3)
This annual Australian festival is open to submissions all over the world. The top 10 submissions are selected to be shown in Sydney where they compete for a jury award.
Twitter Accounts to Follow:
Thousands of journalists use a smartphone for journalism – so who should you follow on Twitter?
- Corinne Podger is a mobile journalism educator and consultant who teaches mobile journalism to reporters, NGOs, social enterprise and at the University of Melbourne. She is also the author of this Manual, and her DMs are open for training enquiries.
- Umashankar Singh is foreign affairs editor at NDTV in India. He’s been pioneering smartphone use at the broadcaster for over a decade.
- Marc Blank-Settle is a BBC trainer for mobile journalism and social media. He is the one to follow for news on the latest apps and gear.
- Philip Bromwell is Digital Native Content Editor at RTE News in Ireland. He heads a team of mobile journalists who record and edit stories for TV and social media on smartphones.
- Eleanor Mannion is a programme-maker with the Irish state broadcaster RTE. In 2016 she shot a full-length 4K documentary, The Collectors, entirely on her smartphone – a first for a European broadcaster.
- Rob Layton is a photographer and lecturer at Bond University in Australia, where he teaches the Mobile Journalism course.
- Glen Mulcahy is the former Head of Innovation at Irish public broadcaster RTE and a mojo pioneer. He founded the first mojo conference, Mojocon, and now runs MojoFest. He works as mojo consultant to media outlets around the world.
- Wytse Vellinga is a video and mobile storyteller who pioneered mobile journalism at Omrop Fryslân. He now lectures at NHL Stenden University in the Netherlands.
Websites and Online Resources:
- Smartphone Film Pro is a blog by video journalist Neil Sheppard. One of the best sources of free information about apps, equipment and techniques.
- SmartFilming is a blog by mobile journalist Florian Reichart, who specialises in Android mobile journalism.
- Primal Video is a Youtube channel run by Justin Brown, a film-maker and video producer based in Australia. He provides step-by-step guides to professional and consumer smartphone apps, and equipment reviews and tests. You can also follow Justin on Twitter.
- Journalist’s Toolbox is a vast online resource for journalism in general. It has an excellent sub-section on mobile journalism which is regularly updated and includes links to websites, blogs, online guides and news stories.
- YouTube Creators is a channel for people who make videos for YouTube. It’s full of tips, tutorials and guides to filming techniques, editing tips, equipment and software.
Books and Handbooks:
- How to set up a video unit – A GIJN guide for small organisations, Global Investigative Journalism Network, 2021.
- The Mojo Handbook: Theory to Praxis, by Ivo Burum (Routledge, 2021), ISBN 9780367332624.
- Mobile and Social Media Journalism: A practical guide for multimedia journalism, 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2021), ISBN 9780367460969.
- Mobile Storytelling: A journalist’s guide to the smartphone galaxy, by Wytse Vellinga and Björn Staschen (Kindle e-book, March 2018)