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Journalism tools and tech

'Cinematic journalism': why China Daily used 360° footage to preserve Hong Kong riots in time

Virtual reality headsets may not be anyone's first format for news now, but in 50 years time, it might allow audiences to experience historic events as if they were there

Posted by Jacob Granger on 29/01/20

Your comment section is only as good as your editorial strategy

We should be thinking critically about engaging with audiences and owning the platforms

Posted by Adriana Lacy on 23/01/20

App for journalists: PhotoGrid, for creating eye-catching images on Instagram

As audiences flock to Instagram and TikTok for visual content, this app helps you create beautiful vertical stories to drive engagement

Posted by Daniel Green on 22/01/20

Five tips to get started with mobile journalism

Smartphones give you the power to report live from almost everywhere, film interviews and edit footage on the go

Posted by Bernhard Lill on 20/01/20

Tip: Seven pointers on using Adobe Premiere Pro

Take your desktop editing up a notch with this advise on applying transitions and fixing colour

Posted by Jacob Granger on 16/01/20

Tip: Find alternatives to VPNs

Although VPNs are useful in allowing access to blocked websites, some are owned by national governments - here are some alternative tools

Posted by Daniel Green on 15/01/20

Tip: Handy gadgets and gear for journalists

Power banks, smartphone rigs and a copy of essential media law to-hand can be life-savers in the field and on the newsdesk

Posted by Daniel Green on 10/01/20

BBC Voice News Service to give news bulletins on smart speakers a human touch

'Alexa, give me BBC News' is the new command to prompt an interactive audio round-up that also gives the option to skip ahead or delve into a full-length interview

Posted by Jacob Granger on 08/01/20

How to find under-reported topics that readers actually pay attention to

The best editorial decisions are often based on data. A new tool, Parse.ly Currents, helps publishers identify which content audiences are searching for and engaging with

Posted by Marcela Kunova on 06/01/20

How can journalists and software developers work better together?

Editorial and tech teams need to collaborate but they seldom understand each other's worlds

Posted by Magnus Bjerg on 02/01/20

'Reality is the new quality' for reporting with mobile journalism

Mobile reporter Yusuf Omar on why wearable technology is the best tool for citizen journalists to produce raw stories that audiences can truly relate to

Posted by Katie Orchard and Daniel Green on 10/12/19

Tip: Make the most of RSS feeds

Knowing how to use the application can help journalists personalise a steady flow of content - as well as aid data journalism

Posted by Jacob Granger on 10/12/19

Tip: Tweetdeck for student journalists

The platform is essential for reporters to find their next story, but it can seem daunting at first - here is a guide for new reporters

Posted by Jacob Granger on 09/12/19

Five tips for shooting an on-the-road documentary with your mobile phone

Award-winning cinematographer Cassius Rayner offers his lessons in filming in temperatures of up to 40°C and from the back of a moving vehicle

Posted by Jacob Granger on 09/12/19

Caroline Scott, freelance videographer, on using mobile journalism for small publishers and local news organisations

Can your smartphone be the ideal piece of kit for reporting breaking news and shooting vox pops in the street? Yes — so long as you bring a charger bank and a gimbal

Posted by Jacob Granger on 22/11/19

App for journalists: Otter.ai, for transcribing interviews on the go

This free audio-to-text app saves you the trouble of transcribing quotes from your last interview

Posted by Daniel Green on 29/10/19

How to add IGTV videos into series on Instagram

The new feature keeps audiences watching your video content - here is how to set it up

Posted by Jacob Granger on 29/10/19

Washington Post launches smart TV app to introduce news content onto streaming devices

The 'News Reader' app for Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV aims to take advantage of this emerging market to discover new audiences

Posted by Daniel Green on 22/10/19

Tip: Improve your productivity

Industry professionals reveal their best tools for staying on top of their busy schedules

Posted by Jacob Granger on 16/10/19

Tool for journalists: Zencastr, for recording podcasts with remote interviewees

When you cannot interview your next guest face-to-face, use this tool to capture microphone sound quality quotes when in different parts of the world

Posted by Jacob Granger on 15/10/19

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From our editors' blog

Tool of the week for journalists: Taggstar, for adding links to your pictures

A free tool to allow readers to hover over images on your site and find links to videos, audio and more, and one that offers money making opportunities for publishers

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 18 October 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Story Wheel, for easy audio slideshows

A quick and easy tool for turning your Instagram pictures into an audio slideshow

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 4 October 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Cowbird, for unedited storytelling

A storytelling tool to allow people to tell stories in their own words, pictures, audio and maps

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 14 August 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Datawrapper, for quick data visualisations

A data journalism visualisation tool as recommended by Simon Rogers of the Guardian's Datastore

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 29 June 2012

CoveritLive switches to paid-only service

Popular liveblogging platform CoverItLive has announced the end of its free usage tier, becoming an entirely paid for subscription service

Posted by Daniel Bentley on 1 June 2012

Bitly launches 'bitmark' social bookmarking service

Bitly, the popular link shortener used by lots of news websites, announces its ‘bitmark’ service

Posted by Daniel Bentley on 29 May 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Transcribe, a Chrome web app that saves time

A free toll that allows you to transcribe an audio interview without having the toggle between a text-editing document and audio player

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 25 May 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Geofeedia, to locate real-time photos, videos and tweets

A great new tool that can help journalists verify breaking news stories

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 17 May 2012

Social magazine app Flipboard adds audio

Flipboard partners with SoundCloud, National Public Radio and Public Radio International to add audio, making the social magazine a multimedia experience

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 16 May 2012

Tweetbot partners with Storify to allow Twitter conversation sharing

Create mini Storifys of a Twitter conversation in a swipe and three taps with the Tweetbot update

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 1 May 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Thinglink, for interactive images

A great online tool to allow you to annotate images with rich media such as tweets, videos, photos and audio

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 26 April 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Google Follow Your World

Track change in an area of interest by receiving notifications when Google adds new satellite images

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 19 April 2012

Storify stories now on news reader app Pulse

Curated storytelling tool Storify signs its first syndication deal and is now available on social reader Android and iPhone/iPad app Pulse

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 19 April 2012

Independent uses Spotify button to add 'new angle to music journalism'

Independent adds digital music service Spotify's new play button

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 11 April 2012

Citizen journalism site Blottr launches Facebook app

Citizen journalism site Blottr launches Guardian-style 'frictionless sharing' Facebook app

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 10 April 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Muck Rack

Muck Rack is a site that aggregates Twitter and social media feeds for thousands of professional journalists

Posted by James Chapple on 5 April 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Timeline

A new tool for journalists created by a multimedia journalist and journalism professor

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 29 March 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: freeDive, to create a searchable database

A fantastic, easy-to-use tool to allow you to turn a spreadsheet into an interactive database

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 22 March 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Data.gov.uk's map-based search

Search for data sets using Data.gov.uk's map-based search tool

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 13 March 2012

Tool of the week for journalists: Cuttings.me

Portfolio site Cuttings.me launches new features: RSS and multimedia cuttings

Posted by Sarah Marshall on 28 February 2012

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