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Mobile journalism – The end of anera for SNG?Satellite news gathering (SNG) has been used way back since the 1970s, and in 1982, wasfamously demonstrated during Britain’s war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. SNG becamecommonplace in the decade that followed, and today, we’ve all become used to the sight of SNGvehicles at major events around the world. However, that may all be about to change, as a new eraof journalism utilising Smart phones is taking the sector by storm. Chris Ayres explains.

Prothom Alo journalists learning the basic steps of becoming a mobile reporter. Image by Prothom Alo

Satellite news gathering (SNG) truly revolutionisedbroadcasting, enabling the rapid spread of information fromdisaster zones, breaking news events and live streaming fromthe sporting and music worlds, to a global audience. Whatonce took hours or days to reach global awareness now takesminutes thanks to satellite technology.

Today’s typical SNG units are equipped with two-wayaudio and video transmitters with dish antennas thatcommunicate with geostationary satellites. Thanks to ever-advancing technologies, these units are now small enoughto fit in a backpack, so a single reporter can get to the heartof an ongoing event and report live without delay, in situationswhere a larger team or van would have been hindered. Acontrol room receives the broadcast from the satellite, where

it can be uploaded to the relevant networks for distribution.

A shift in technologiesA key consumer trend in the last decade has been the switchaway from traditional news outlets, such as the ‘home TV’and newspapers, to the Internet. This move has been enabledby the advancement of Smart phones and tablets, which havebecome widely available at extremely low prices. In the UK,you can pick up a fully-functioning Smart phone for £15.

The good news is that, while an increasing number ofconsumers are moving away from watching the news on theirhome TVs, the demand for news in video format, viewableon mobile devices, has sky-rocketed. We certainly won’t beseeing the end of video-format news any time soon.

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The bad news is that some in the news sector considertraditional SNG methods outdated; production costs are high,processing can be slow, and the workflow is poorly-suited forproducing video for web consumption. Consumers want thelatest news yesterday i.e. fast, on-demand, and often live.They also want to be able to view it on a variety of differentscreen sizes. Indeed, the high cost of production by traditionalmethods is deemed by some as unsustainable, particularlyin a time when broadcasters are losing advertising revenueto YouTube and social media channels.

This is where Smart phone, or mobile, news gatheringcomes into play. In recent years we’ve seen that, becausemuch of the general public now has a Smart phone equippedwith a reasonably good camera, they are now, in many cases,beating reporters to the punch by broadcasting breaking newsand/or live video on social media feeds directly from majorworld events before news channels get a look in. Being‘scooped’ by a random passer-by can’t be good for newsagencies’ reputations.

The benefits of mobile news gathering are many. It’s fasterto go from shooting to broadcasting, more efficient inprocessing and equipment costs, and the kit is significantlylighter – there’s a big difference in moving from bulky camerasand processing equipment to a device small enough to fit ina pocket. It’s also been found that, interviewees are less likelyto be intimidated by smaller hand-held equipment such asmobile phones than traditional TV crews, and thus are morelikely to agree to spontaneous interviews.

News agencies are now getting in on the action bytransitioning at least partly into mobile journalism. The BBC,Time, EHF Media and Bild have used mobile journalism tomore easily report on foreign and fast-moving news stories,and several news outlets in the USA are also getting in onthe action.

However, in a surprising twist, it appears to be South Asiathat is leading the path on mobile journalism.

India leads the way on mobile news gatheringFor many of us, Smart phones are a thing of convenience;they allow us to stay in touch with loved ones via traditionalvoice and text methods, or through social media. We can shop

online, manage our banking, control the heating in our house,play games, take photos, record videos, and listen to music.The possibilities seem never-ending.

While no American or UK news outlets have yet made anentire transition to mobile news gathering, Indian outlets seemto be beating them to the punch.

In July 2017, NDTV of New Delhi announced a majorrestructure, including a complete transition to a mobilejournalism model which allows its reporters to shoot and editnews videos.

At the time, NDTV stated: “Like other news broadcastersaround the world, NDTV is reorganizing its newsroom andresources to focus on mobile journalism. NDTV has alwaysbeen an early adapter of new technology - and we are thefirst major network in India whose reporters are all trained inusing mobile phones to shoot stories. This is not just aboutcost-cutting, though that is certainly, for us - like any otherresponsible business - an important factor in operations.Mobile journalism means reports are lightning-quick andmuch more efficiently produced - a priority for any newscompany. After NDTV’s switch to this new model, other newsnetworks in India are now experimenting with similar training.”

The news entity asserted that it would be ‘irresponsibleto viewers and shareholders’ to maintain archaic templates

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of how to shoot and edit videos that date back severaldecades.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo announced inOctober 2017 that it, too, is moving towards mobile newsgathering by building the largest mobile journalism networkin Bangladesh. Some 184 journalists around the country havebeen trained to shoot, edit and publish content directly fromtheir Smart phones. The entity made the decision based onits own experiments in 2016, which showed that mobilejournalism could help increase the amount of video coverageproduced while also improving the speed of reporting.

Mobile journalism specialist Jamil Khan was hired byProthom Alo to train reporters. “We’re now using mobilejournalism to re-shape our news channel, encouraging ourreporters all over the country to produce audio-visual contentfor social audiences,” he commented.

The reporters, who are largely using their own Androidtechnology, have posted content to social media channelssuch as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, as well asProthom Alo’s website. The phone apps Filmic Pro and

Kinemaster are used to shoot and edit the content, accordingto journalism.co.uk, and WeTransfer is used to send theresulting video files to head office from the field.

Prothom Alo is developing its own mobile journalismhandbook for distribution among reporters to refer back towhen working. “It’s all developing for us as time goes on, andwe’re even making our own version of the BBC’s PNg appcalled ‘Palo report’, so our journalists can easily file the storiesfrom the field and quickly send material to each other – watchthis space,” said Khan.

Implications for satelliteAs mobile news gathering becomes more commonplace,transmission requirements will of course change. SNG trucksmay well become a rarer sight as an increasing number ofjournalists utilise their Smart phones to transmit video footageback to the studio. However, as many of the stories reportedon are based in distant and/or rural locations, satellite stillhas a key role to play in providing the connectivity necessaryto ensure ubiquitous, global coverage.

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