Must Have Apps for Journalists

01Nov09

 

Photo by: Sigalakos

It’s hard to image what it was like being a journalist before the iPhone. Not for the phone itself because we all know drop calls happen more often than not. It’s a good thing I’m not much of a phone person. I’ve gotten so use to the unreliability that now,  when I say ” Hello”,  I offer a quick disclaimer : “If we get disconnected it’s due to my phone and please call me back.”

 

But the saving grace for this hand held is definitely the apps! There are over 85, 000 apps to choose from and hundreds in the making.

As a student journalist I have taken full advantage of having technology on my side. Here are a few apps that have proven to be the upgrade to the reporter’s notepad.

The latest apps I’ve been quite impress with is:

• Dropbox: To  sign up - https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTE4ODcyMDU5 Think of this as an online storage unit for your files. You can access them through any computer  whether you’re at home, work and school. No more carrying flash drives or sending files to your email. The app itself is super handy in case you can’t get to a computer. Through the app you can open, send, and review your files right then and there.
• Photoshop: Totally makes up for the iPhone camera for not having flash or zoom. This app makes editing fast and easy. You can crop, change the exposure and add adjust the saturation of the image.
• JotNot: Allows you take a picture of any documents, receipts, business cards and converts  it to a PDF file or saves it as a photo.
• Voice Memo: Great quality and simple interface.  I’m able to capture great background noise and nat sounds with this app and email it as a mp4.
• AP Stylebook: Yup, an app for AP rules. This just launched earlier this month for $29. I don’t have this app but I definitely considered purchasing it. For now, I’m just using the primitive version.

It will be interesting to see what other apps and websites in the next few years will encompass. Will computers be able to replace us altogether and compile articles by simply inputing data into a software?  I doubt that would be remotely possible since observation and talking to human beings is in fact the most vital part of journalism.

Please let me know what apps you use and what has been helpful to you.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: journalism students, Top apps For journalists