Gear, apps and workflows: Rob Layton's complete mobile journalism checklist

Rob Layton speaking in Perugia

Credit: Andrea Marchi #ijf25 via Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-ND 4.0).

"Mobile journalism has become an essential skill not just for journalists, but anyone in communications," says Rob Layton, a 40-year journalism veteran speaking at the International Journalism Festival today (10 April) in Perugia.

Layton, who has spent the last decade researching, teaching and practicing mobile journalism, provided a comprehensive guide to producing high-quality content on your smartphones, no matter your level of experience.

The trinity

Three key pieces of equipment will have you set as a mobile journalist: a grip or rig, a tripod and a microphone.

Phone grips and rigs

For beginners, Layton recommends starting with a basic grip featuring a "cold shoe mount" on top to attach a microphone. More advanced options include:

• Universal beast grip: accommodates any model phone
• Moment super cage: offers a more robust mounting solution
• Phone-specific cages: compact and lightweight but require replacement when upgrading phones

Tripods

"A good tripod is for life," Layton advised, recommending models that extend to eye level for professional-looking interviews. His personal preference is the Peak Design travel tripod, though he acknowledged it is now a premium-priced option, having acquired it himself through a kickstarter.

Microphones

"Half of video is audio," says Layton. You will not get away with choppy audio, as you might dicey video.

On-camera directional microphones:

• Rode VideoMic NTG: professional quality for capturing ambient sound while moving
• Rode VideoMicro: more affordable entry point with good directionality for interviews

Wireless lavalier systems:

• DJI Mic 2: features transmitters, receiver, and headphone monitoring
• Rode Wireless Pro: professional-grade with nearly one-kilometer range

"My advice is to get both a wireless and a directional microphone. Have those two and you're pretty much set," Leighton stated. Do not forget a decent pair of headphones to monitor sound levels.

Camera apps: basic to professional

Beginners can shoot footage from their native camera apps, but his clear choice is the Blackmagic Camera app, freely available for both iOS and Android devices.

These are his recommended settings:

• Codec (H.264), resolution (HD/1080p), and colour space (Rec 709)
• Frame rate selection: 25fps for countries with 50Hz electricity (Europe, Australia, UK) or 30fps for 60Hz countries (US, Canada)
• Bitrate: Maximum for best quality
• Audio: Linear PCM, stereo, with industry-standard sample rate

Pro tip: Always tap and hold the screen to lock both exposure and focus before recording. "If you go from an area of bright into an area of dark, you don't want that exposure changing. You want it to be consistent," Layton advised.

Editing apps: three powerful options

Adobe Rush

Best for: beginners and cross-platform users

Price: available on Adobe cloud plans

Strengths:

• Simple interface
• AI-powered "auto ducking" that automatically lowers music when someone speaks
• Cross-platform compatibility Limitations:
• Restricted to three video and three audio tracks
• Somewhat "clunky" interface

LumaFusion

Best for: more complex projects and serious mobile journalists

Price: £29.99 on iOS and Android

Strengths:

• Up to 12 video and 12 audio tracks
• Superior for sound design
• Professional-level features Limitations:
• Paid app
• Works better on tablets than phones due to screen size

DaVinci Resolve

Best for: Advanced color grading and professionals

Price: free

Strengths:

• Industry-standard color management
• Professional features Limitations:
• Steeper learning curve
• Leighton recommends sticking to the "cut page" for journalistic work

Workflow mastery

• Export settings should match recording settings (resolution, frame rate)
• Use standard audio settings (48kHz)
• Adjust quality based on destination (higher for broadcast, standard for web)

For social media repurposing, Leighton shared this broadcast professional tip courtesy of Philip Bromwell, social and digital native content editor, RTÉ News in Ireland: "Film everything in landscape but make sure subjects are in the middle of the frame, and that way you can transition into vertical for socials."

Extra tools worth exploring

• Road Reporter: free professional audio recording app
• MoShow: motion graphics and effects (paid)
• GoPro Quick: AI-assisted editing that can quickly assemble footage to music beats
• Adobe Rush Pro (for motion tracking): offers motion tracking to follow subjects when converting landscape to vertical video

"This is best time for mobile journalism as there's such a market for it," concludes Layton.

"Thanks to YouTubers and influencers, everyone's using their phone for creating content now. When I started this ten years, I found a community of mobile journalist and I kind of ingratiated myself into them and asked them lots of questions and nothing fit.

"Microphones wouldn't fit, compatibility was terrible and it was really difficult. Move ahead 10 years and everything is so much easier and the quality is superb."

We used a transcription tool, Good Tape, and a generative AI Gemini, to help structure this article before it was edited by a human

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