Super Tuesday became a tech tour de force for the UpTake

Julio Ojeda-Zapata writes, Technology A to Z - With easy, affordable tools, anyone can be a video journalist:

Mobile phones. The video cameras in newer cell phones have become live-reporting tools, courtesy of new services that send moving images over the Internet as they're being captured. These services include Qik, Kyte, ComVu and Flixwagon. When paired with certain cutting-edge handsets, such as Nokia's N95, video journalism becomes possible.

Reuters has paired N95s with the ComVu service as part of a Mobile Journalism Toolkit experiment. Minnesota-based Technology Evangelist, which specializes in Web-based video coverage of technology topics, used Qik for live reporting from the Consumer Electronics Show late last year. During the recent Super Tuesday of U.S. presidential primaries and caucuses, MTV sponsored 51 citizen journalists using phones equipped with Flixwagon.

Likewise, the UpTake has harnessed Qik with several N95s for live webcasting on the group's home page. It accomplished this with a first-ever melding of Qik with Mogulus, which permitted N95-packing UpTake correspondents in St. Paul and Boston to zap their video directly to that little window on the group's home page.

Super Tuesday became a tech tour de force for the UpTake.

Chuck Olsen was in a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras celebrations (Super Tuesday and Fat Tuesday happened to coincide this year), webcasting live via Mogulus and the iSight videocam built into his MacBook Pro laptop. This permitted him to co-anchor the UpTake's national coverage of that night's political mega-event (despite a few technical glitches) alongside volunteers in St. Paul.

UpTake executive director Jason Barnett was in St. Paul with one of the organization's two N95s, transmitting footage of inner-city Democratic caucusing. Video blogger Steve Garfield had the other N95 in Boston, transmitting from a bar near Fenway Park as he solicited the political views of fellow tech-heads. This event was a technical coup for Garfield, a veteran Qik user, who negotiated the agreement between Mogulus and Qik so the services could interact for the first time.

Reporting by cell phone

TwinCities.com - Twin Cities / Newest anchors report by cell phone:

"UpTake cut to Steve Garfield, another phone-packing correspondent, reporting from a Boston bar near Fenway Park.

It was a seminal Web-video moment. UpTake viewers could participate during the live webcasts by sending text-based queries and comments, which Barnett and Garfield could see on their handsets and answer."

Blog entry: The UpTake pushes online-journo envelope

Here's some more background on my Massachusetts Primary coverage by cellphone over ATT via Qik to Mogulus:

I got a call on my iPhone tht Corrine was ready to have me go online from Boston, so I put the ear buds in and listened to her over the phone while I started the Qik software on the N95 and got my first guest ready to join me outside.

I went out side and turned n the stream and started reporting from Boston. Then I interviewed my first guest and then towards the end of the interview when I spoke with Corrine it seems like there was an issue and she had to switch to Chuck Olsen and go live with him since the battery on his laptop was dying.

So that stream was saved on Qik, but not stream at the same time to Mogulus. We tried again, and this time I went live and reported for 23 minutes from the streets of Boston out side Boston Beer Works near Fenway park.

The guests spoke about the election and viewers could chat directly to my phone and ask questions.

Throughout the interviews I propped up the N95 with both arms to keep it steady and also used the building as a pseudo tripod.

Having years experience using these small cameras I know where to hold it to get myself in the frame and then turned to my interviewee to get them in the frame.

The sound was good both inside and out.

When I got home I was able to watch the streams and see how they looked. Pretty clear for both audio and video.

Then I turned on The UpTake to see what was online, and it someone was doing a microphone check, so I went to bed nad turned on CNN for election results.

Ironic.

Reporting for The UpTake: Massachusetts Primary

Here's a 23:41 video of my LIVE broadcast from Boston Beer Works on Primary night 2/5/08.

It was the first integrated LIVE broadcast between Qik and Mogulus. I was excited to be able to work with both companies to make this happen. Thanks a lot. It gives us a glimpse of the future.

You can go to the page on Qik for this video and see all the comments I was getting while broadcasting live from my Nokia N95-3 cellphone over the 3G network to Qik. Comments people make while I am online get streamed to the phone where I can read them while shooting the video.

The stream was then directed to Mogulus which broadcast my stream live to The UpTake viewers.

After I ended the stream the video was posted to Seesmic, where people could post video replies around the video and have a conversation about it.

Featured:
Qik Blog: Super Tuesday with Steve Garfield

The UpTake: Massachusetts Primary Qik Cam Coverage

Mashable: Mogulus Integrates Qik Mobile Streaming–Super Tueesday Coverage

My Super Tuesday Coverage Plans With The UpTake

Get a detailed look at my diagram, Happanstance Broadcasting.

via The UpTake: Steve Garfield’s Super Tuesday Coverage Plans With The UpTake

Cross posted to techPresident: Steve Garfield's Super Tuesday Coverage Plans With The UpTake.

Also on YouTube.

Twitter Meetup in Boston on 2/5.

More coverage:

Mogulus.
Jeff Pulver.
Lee Stranahan.
Milk and Cookies.
Sarah Meyers: Super Tuesday Live with Qik and Mogulus

Mitt Romney, the Reporter, and Journalism

THE UPTAKE, DERAILING THE NARRATIVE: Chuck Tomlinson and Stacker Manfield comment on the exchange between Mitt Romney and Associated Press reporter Glen Johnson - and how it relates to our brand of citizen journalism.

Steve on Propaganda

Steve on Propaganda - Originally uploaded on flickr by stevegarfield.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Steve Garfield, Mobile Video Journalist

My friend Chuck Olsen put together a nice recap of my live online video streaming cellphone adventures from New Hampshire, the day before the first primary in the nation.

In this report he takes a look at some of my video including Duncan Hunter, Charlie Gibson and Sean Hannity.

Thanks Chuck!

Additional Coverage:
Watch Steve Garfield, Mobile Video Journalist on YouTube.

Veracifier: Ground Hound Steve Garfield. He's Mobile!.

Jose Castillo at Think Jose blogged about it three minutes after I streamed it live, Kick it Quick with Qik.

Rocketboom

NextNewNetworks: NewTeeVee: “Online Political Video a Winner in 2008″

Epic-Fu: political madness, insane sports, gOS.

Jackson West writes for NewTeeVee, Online Political Video a Winner in 2008.

Viral: Propaganda, Propaganda: China, theuptake.org, Ghost Whisperer

Variety.

Advance the digital literacy

Photo: Steve Garfield CC BY-NC-SA

My friend Howard Owens, director of digital publishing for GateHouse Media presents 2008 objectives for today’s non-wired journalist.

If you want to explore the new media landscape, this is a great way to get started.

You'll become a better writer, photographer and videographer.

You'll make connections online.

Pictured Citizen Journalists:
Chuck Olsen of The Uptake and Kenyatta Cheese of Rocketboom.

via [ Lost Remote ]

Chuck Goes To Iowa

My good friend Chuck Olsen filed this report from Iowa for Veracifier.