The nature of storytelling is changing, and to fully embrace this change and attract new audiences, broadcasters need to make greater use of mobile journalism and capitalize on their trusted relationship with their viewers.
In the latest episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson talks with Glen Mulcahy, one of the pioneers of mobile journalism (often referred to as “mojo”).
Now working as a media trainer, Glen formerly worked for the Irish public broadcaster RTE, and it was while he was there that he became a leading supporter of the use of mobile devices to record and edit video packages for multiple platforms.
In the episode, Glen describes how there is a massive opportunity for traditional broadcasters to make use of mojo to change the way they interact with their audience.
He tells host Craig Wilson, “Storytelling is changing. This idea of the ‘lean back’ linear narrative that we’re so used to on television—it doesn’t really work at all when you move over into the ‘lean forward’ kind of social storytelling space. And I think more and more broadcasters are becoming more cognizant of this. What mobile does in that context is it often gives you a very real, very visceral insight into peoples’ lives.”
Glen also discusses his concerns around the way in which artificial intelligence technologies may be used to spread disinformation, making it much more difficult for audiences to differentiate between what is real and what is not. He says this is a challenge which broadcasters must face head on. Mobile filming can play a part in this.
He explains, “I think it is going to be another huge transformative step with the adoption of AI content and generative AI. And I think the one USP that every news organization has that they have not fully capitalized on yet is integrity and trust. No one ever sits at home—or if they do, God bless them—but no one ever sits at home, watches a package on the six or nine o’clock news, turns to the person sitting beside and goes, ‘I bet you that was shot on a PMW500 camera.’ The day that happens, I will literally eat my hat.”
“So, you know, the thing about it is that we, as the broadcast family, get terribly excited about the latest, biggest, shiniest, most expensive thing. But what we sometimes fail to realize is that the person in the audience really does not give a damn. They are trusting us above all else to give them facts. And in a time when we’re about—I believe, at least—to see an absolute tsunami of fake and mis- and disinformation content generated by AI in the social space, the one thing that people are ultimately going to have to rely on is journalistic integrity and trust.“
Find out more on the next episode of the Making the Media Podcast, available on all major podcast platforms on Friday, April 28.
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