Overcapture, freelance journalism and Snapchat: Here is your weekly journalism news update

Every Friday, Journalism.co.uk brings you a round-up of our week’s top stories, giving you all the information you need to know, wherever you are. 

Here's the latest journalism news from this week:

App for journalists: Unfold, for creating personalised social media stories

As an increasing number of media organisations look to build their presence using the stories function on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, journalists are needing to become more and more creative to engage audiences that are overwhelmed by content. 

That is where Unfold comes in, an app that can help reporters breathe more life into their storytelling, with set templates that present their work in a different way. Users are able to create multiple projects within the app, which can then be saved to their photos for later, or uploaded straight onto Instagram.

How to use Toby, the free Chrome extension for smarter browser bookmarking

Image by Toby

Every productive person using the internet needs to manage their tabs. We have all been there – working on a product and getting too click happy, when all of a sudden, you have 30 pages open without a clue as to what is what.

Well, free tool Toby aims to help you overcome this, so that if you do end up deviating from your original train of thought, or open so many tabs you cannot read what they are without opening them, you can get right back on track.

Tool for journalists: Pitchwhiz, for connecting freelancers with news organisations

Freelancing can be a great way to get your foot in the door after university, and can give experienced journalists more flexibility at work, but this competitive industry can be challenging. 

Indeed, although there's a lot of advice out there and many portfolio and publishing platforms for freelancers, getting replies to your pitches can be tough.

That's where Pitchwhiz comes in. The essentially connects freelance journalists with editors and publishers, so that freelancers can contact commissioning editors and pitch ideas, while news outlets can post the stories they are looking for.

How Overcapture can help journalists get the perfect shot in breaking news situations

More and more news organisations are embracing immersive 360-degree video as a way to tell stories in a new, exciting way, but the spherical technology can also offer reporters new opportunities out in the field. 

Overcapture, also known as free capture, is the process of shooting with a 360-degree camera and then cropping the video for use in a traditional fixed-frame video – handy if you are out in the field trying to produce multiple pieces of content at once.

Mic uses ‘selfie-style’ video to engage audiences on Snapchat Discover

Since Mic decided to launch on Snapchat Discover just over a month ago, it has been experimenting with personalised, 'selfie-style' video, designed to encourage audiences to feel closer to reporters and the news they are covering.

Sarah Singer, executive producer, Mic, said her team decided to publish five days a week, keen to develop their own voice on the platform while staying faithful to their core editorial strategy.

"We tried a number of different ways to work with our correspondents," Singer told Journalism.co.uk.

One of the most successful formats has been speaking directly to the camera, as a friend or family member would, making clear eye contact with the audience on Snapchat to add a degree of friendship and personal connection to the story.

The next newsrewired digital journalism conference will take place on 7 November 2018 at Reuters in Canary Wharf, London.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Journalism.co.uk team has been working on the programme for the event, and we’re pleased to announce our first session ideas we are currently developing.

The tickets (£190+VAT) give you access to the full-day conference on Wednesday 7 November 2018 and include lunch and refreshments, as well as after-event networking drinks and a delegate ‘goodie’ bag. 

Book your place here.

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