The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

Favorite iPhone Apps For The Citizen Journalist

iPhone shot from rural Ecuador .. from a story on South American elections. (Photo by Susan Klopfer)

If your marketing plan includes playing the role of citizen journalist, here are some iPhone apps I've recently discovered that speed up finding stories, checking facts and getting stuff uploaded. (This list plus additional commentary will be appearing in an upcoming iPhone publication.) Try a few and let me know what you think. I would also appreciate contributions to this list.

Susan



Twelve Handy Citizen Journalist iPhone Apps


1) TweetDeck

Twitter is fast and loose, so turning it into an efficient tool is a job for TweetDeck, an app used for quickly gathering and organizing all kinds of data. I loved using it on my PC and was surprised at how good it looks and works on the iPhone. Unique stories, real experts to interview and of course, millions and millions of folks who will gladly talk on any subject with authoritaay are waiting in the wings.

This mobile Twitter browser lets you manage multiple Twitter accounts and search multiple groups within categories. It syncs columns between a PC and iPhone. If I’m working on a civil rights topic, I can bring up panels for #civilrights #blackhistory, #emmetttill and dozens more including @sklopfer to check DMs or direct mentions of my twitter name.

Twitter uses Hashtags (#) to organize tweets around a specific topic. There are numerous hashtags already established with new ones cropping up daily. Check out hashtags.org to get story ideas and find people with agendas.

TweetDeck shortens URLs, squeezes tweets or messages into the 140 character limit for retweeting and eases posting to Facebook and MySpace. It’s also easy to attach a new or library photo to a tweet. TweetDeck automatically places the photo at twitpic.com and assigns a link at the front of your message.
Four more Twitter and Facebook friendly apps giving CJ’s the edge include Echofon, Fwix, Flickr and ViddlyLite.

2) Echofon

Echofon, formerly Twitterfon, looks good on the iPhone screen, is a little easier to use than TweetDeck, and has powerful tweet authoring capabilities including the ability to take and send photos (and videos for 3GS only), and update current location. You can search trending topics and find specific users easily from its search tab.

3) Fwix

Fwix makes real-time local news from newspapers and blogs in major cities worldwide available for posting to Twitter, Facebook and to its website. I use it on several of my civil rights blogs to maintain newsfeeds on specific topics. Because of its news focus, you don’t have to sift through tweets about weird stuff to find relevant news. No party animals – it’s strictly news at Fwix. More important, this app lets you file your own news updates, photos and videos live from the field.

4) Flickr

Yahoo’s Flickr lets users view pictures posted on specific topics – your photos and other people’s stuff. I found a great map of the Mississippi Delta and Flickr made it easy to send email to the originator for requesting permission to use it on my blog. Attached to the map were 40 more photos of the Delta for possible use. Once logged in with a Yahoo account, Flickr syncs with your photos and captions. You can snap photos from the Flickr deck or upload from your existing libraries, organize photos by sets and tags, share and map location of photos.

5) ViddlyLite

If you have a 3G iPhone and want to send your videos to Twitter, check out ViddlyLite. Very easy to use and the screen is easy to read.


6) Wikipanion

Need some help with research or fact checking? Wikipanion looks good on the iPhone screen, giving easy access to its mothership, Wikipedia. Contents, related categories, the ability to search pages, adjust font size, email links and search the Wiktionary are all easy to access from the screen. After pulling up the main report on Emmett Till, the topic of a blog book I’m writing, I used the Wiktionary to search “delta blues” and found a quick definition with links to related terms.

7) Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com makes another great research tool even though it takes a few moments longer than most apps to install and load but is worth the wait. Developers say they’ll be making changes soon. I like the optional speaker that gives correct pronunciation.


8) BlogPressLite

Besides sending story links to Twitter and Facebook or MySpace, many citizen journalists build their audiences by setting up their own blogs and websites. BlogPress, a feature rich fee-based iPhone app that supports all major blogging systems, offers a free version for Blogger and BlogSpots users called BlogPress Lite that supports full options of blog, labels, publish date and online draft.

This app’s editor works like Word and allows photo placement any place in the text using an easy to use photo uploader that posts photos to the blog or to a Picasa web album. The same post can be sent to multiple platforms.

9) PicPosterous

A unique app, PicPosterous is sooo fast! Take your photos and video and then post them instantly on the web using a live connection between your iPhone and the Internet to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, your blog and more, as well as to a free online site via email. Photos and video are geotagged and upload into albums. Video is converted for playback in Safari using flash, and plays in Mobile Safari using Quicktime. This app even has autopost features.

10) AP Mobile

Want your story to be seen by the national press? AP Mobile news from the Associated Press geotags locations and lets you share news, tips and photos of breaking international, national and local news. This app supports 'push' updates, so even if you are not working in the app you get an alert with breaking news updates in categories you have pre-selected.

11) Newspapers

Keep in contact and learn individual submission policies of the local press with Newspapers, a well-organized directory of 2000 newspapers with online editions in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

12) Maddow

Journalistic skills and integrity are critical when taking on this role that’s defining itself before our eyes. Learn by watching and listening to the professionals, like Rachel Maddow – her app is named Maddow.

Views: 27

Comment

You need to be a member of The Book Marketing Network to add comments!

Join The Book Marketing Network

© 2024   Created by John Kremer.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service