Mobile News: Getting News Now and On-the-Go

Today I attended two workshops on digital journalism: the first, about tools for mobile news, the second, on watchdog journalism, which will come in a later post.

In "The Future of Journalism: Going Mobile," the presenters emphasized tablets similar to the iPad. "The only game in town is the iPad," said Paul Niwa. He sought to dispel the enigma of programming and codes, saying any and every journalist now has the tool to create their own mobile applications.

"You don't have to be a geek to embrace the ability to make some of these new things," said Gil Asakawa.

For example, some tools are useful: Adobe InDesign offers a free plugin for its publishing suite. Newsstand, an iPad app, centralizes news and magazines. Sophie: provides an open source publishing platform in html5, without the complexity of Flash script. Niwa also mentioned Android app inventors and Push Pop Press, an app publisher recently bought by Facebook that makes books interactive. Layar is another tool of "augmented reality," allowing consumers to pull up information on their phone just by pointing their mobile device at an object.

The advantage of creating applications is its compact nature. An entire multimedia package can be created and read on the go, on your phone or on a small screen. And now, more than ever, people want to see that information, in a contained, easy-to-digest story, from wherever they are.

"People want to see their media immediate," Niwa said.

Just Landed in Detroit

West Coast gal, meet the Midwest.

Just arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Dwayne County Airport. It's 6 a.m. I'm dreary eyed, sleepy as hell. But, pumped full of excitement and coffee.

I've never had the desire to visit Detroit -- a faint call of Chicago, maybe -- but never Motown, the Motor City, birth place of music legends like Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and, what, techno artist Derrick May?

I'm here at the AAJA National Convention on a Henry Ford fellowship to study new journalism tools. I'll be regularly blogging posts about people, observations of the city and reporting workshops.

We all know Detroit is the sad, once-popular big boy on campus. It's a city burdened with the stigma of the auto industry crash compounded with white flight and lax public infrastructure.

I'm not sure what to expect. I have no preconceptions of the city, as my upbringing has been very coast-centric. From what my friends tell me, hipsters are edging into the arts districts of Detroit. I'm here with an open mind, ready to network with fellow journalists and -- this would be my wish come true -- hopefully hear some good live music.

Food Cart Frenzy: Finding Portland's OG Food Cart

Food Cart Frenzy Day 1: The quest to find Portland's "original gangster" food cart

The chicken and dumpling treat from Awesome Cone

Checklist

• Awesome Cone: chicken and dumpling cone
• Herb's Mac and Cheese: mac and cheese with spinach, mac and cheese with bacon
• Koi Fusion PDX: bulgogi taco, bulgogi burrito
• Samba Shack: Brazilian quindim

We began our gluttonous journey with my wild, unfact-checked guess of the ground zero of food carts: Korean BBQ beef fusion tacos.

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