Adopting a mojo mindset: Training newspaper reporters in mobile journalism

Abstract

Due to the visual turn in journalism and the emergence of mobile journalism, many newspaper journalists have had to change the way they work and learn to use new tools. To face these changes, traditional news organizations apply different strategies to increase staff competencies in using new production tools and creating innovative content in new formats. In this paper, we investigate how a specific training arrangement was experienced by a group of 40 print editors and journalists in a German regional publishing house. The journalists were introduced to audio-visual storytelling and reporting with smartphones in a 2-week training course. The training arrangements were studied using participant observation and in-depth interviews, followed by a thematic analysis of the data. The study indicates that for print journalists and editors, the transition from the print to the mojo mindset depends on three dimensions: (i) mastering mojo skills, (ii) adopting visual thinking and (iii) integrating ethical and legal awareness.

Introduction

Video is frequently called the language of the 21st century. Short videos are increasingly replacing text-based news as a source of information, and media companies consider video content to be a key area for investment (Gerstner, 2018; Kalogeropoulos et al., 2016; Murschetz and Friedrichsen, 2017; Van der Haak et al., 2012). In particular, users’ engagement with the news indicates that visual storytelling is important for attracting younger target groups and securing new revenue sources (Hallgren and Nylund, 2018).

But even if video clips have become a ubiquitous element in news, the format represents a production challenge to many print-based news organizations. According to several studies, the critical success factors for making a transition to audio-visual storytelling and reporting with smartphones are digital leadership and the development of new skillsets among staff (Burum, 2016; Hallgren and Nylund, 2018; Murschetz and Friedrichsen, 2017; Sidiropoulos et al., 2019; Wenger et al., 2014). For print journalists, developing skills for mobile journalism (mojo) involves transitioning from written to visual storytelling, or, more specifically, from storytelling for print to storytelling through moving images accompanied by sound and adopting the smartphone as an all-round tool for reporting. This view of mobile journalism, as discussed by Westlund and Quinn (2018) and Perreault and Stanfield (2018), is anchored in the understanding of mojo as ‘a form of all-round, multimedia solo reporting, in which the smartphone serves as a complete production unit for collecting, editing, and disseminating news’ (Salzmann et al., 2020: 1).

In the digital labour market skills in mobile journalism are considered a requirement (Jones, 2017; Perreault and Stanfield, 2018; Wenger et al., 2014). Kumar and Mohamed Haneef (2018), inspired by Bourdieu, have put forward the notion of ‘a mojo habitus’, suggesting that journalists are expected to meet the market demands for multiskilling. The authors describe a process of both deskilling and ‘en-skilling’ among reporters; that is, expanding one’s individual repertoire while simultaneously unlearning ways of thinking to fully embrace the mojo practice and adapt to the mojo habitus. However, the process of multiskilling (Nygren, 2014; Wallace, 2013) and the transition to multimedia journalism (Perez and Cremedas, 2014) have been more prominent in broadcast newsrooms than in print media (Nygren, 2014).

The demand for compelling video content in the news media is matched by an increasing number of practical handbooks on doing mojo (Burum and Quinn, 2016; Hill and Bradshaw, 2018; Montgomery, 2014; Prasad, 2017; Staschen and Wellinga, 2018). A growing number of how-to webinars and virtual mojo courses are offered to journalists as well as to the general public. In the words of an experienced mojo trainer, ‘Mojo is something that you need to do’. Commenting further on mojo training, he stated that one can theorize forever, but ‘when you start going out there and doing stuff, that is when the real learning happens’ (quoted in Scott, 2016). His advice for news organizations wanting to integrate mobile video production was simply to ‘give reporters the tools to practice, integrate mojo into their workflow’. He recommended that news organizations incentivize digital thinking in order to change journalist mindsets.

The implications of changing people’s mindsets have been theorized at length by, among others, Castells (2011), who focused on the rise of the network society. Gynnild (2014) discussed changing mindsets as a premise for journalism innovation. While the ways that mobile technology transform journalism and journalistic practices have been extensively investigated – for example, by Burum (2016), Westlund (2013), Westlund and Quinn (2018), Jokela et al. (2009) and Salzmann et al. (2020) – less is known about the substantive amount of formalized mojo training that constantly goes on within the newsrooms. Murschetz and Friedrichsen (2017) pointed out that in order to reduce costs, in-company training in producing videos is frequently marketed as the best way to overcome the lack of mojo skills in newsrooms. Much of the ongoing training is organized in response to suggestions by internationally recognized mojo trainers, who typically travel from country to country, offering their services to news institutions worldwide. These travelling mojo consultants, however, can be seen as part of a well-established tradition in the news media, where constant in-house training in applying new technologies has long been accepted as part of the ongoing transition of journalism.

There are a number of studies that focus on newsroom culture (for example, Ryfe, 2009; Steensen, 2018; Willig, 2013). Only a few studies, however, (for example, Porcu, 2020) have focused explicitly on in-house training and learning cultures in legacy news media. While organizations invest large amounts of money in further in-house education for news professionals, little is known about the organizational learning arrangements and how such courses are perceived by the editors and reporters. To the extent that journalism teaching and learning issues have been investigated, data have typically been collected from institutions of higher education (e.g. Frith and Meech, 2007; Goodman and Steyn, 2017; Gynnild, 2017; Jones, 2017; Larrondo Ureta and Peña Fernández, 2018).

Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide new insights into the training and learning situations of professional journalists in organizational settings. We got access to a series of 2-day, in-house training workshops in an European media organization, which at the time was investing heavily in restructuring their organization and reskilling their staff.

The study offers a rich description of how experienced print journalists in an organizational context need to adapt their skills to a changing media landscape with a particular emphasis on mobile and visual media. Our understanding of journalism training is anchored in a sociocultural theory of learning (Säljö, 1999; Weilenmann et al., 2014) where the focus is on learning in practice and the use of conceptual and material artefacts. Thus, we investigate the mastering of mojo-skills as a process of learning to use the key tools of mojo practice. We consider in what ways print editors and reporters are getting acquainted with mobile journalism and visual storytelling and how they experience this change. What topics are addressed in the training, and in what ways does the training facilitate the transition to a mojo-mindset (Salzmann et al., 2020)?

Data and method

The empirical data of this study were collected during the 2 weeks of intensive organizational training in mobile video reporting at a large regional newspaper in Germany. The introductory course was part of a comprehensive strategic reorientation of the newspaper, labelled ‘the digital turn’. For 2 days at a time, 40 editors and print journalists were taught the basics of audio-visual journalism and how to do solo video reporting using mobile phones. The participants were divided into five groups, and the 2-day workshops were structured as a mix of short lectures, practical exercises and group discussions.

The editorial aim behind the courses was to give the editors and reporters a chance to explore, in practice, how mobile video reporting differs from producing stories for print. The course was run by an experienced and internationally acknowledged mojo trainer with a professional background in broadcast TV who was recruited from a global community of mojo trainers who exchange experience, knowledge and material related to training in mobile journalism.

Studying training in mobile journalism provides an opportunity to unpack what is considered important competencies and skills for mobile journalism as these are made explicit and topicalized as part of this activity.

In order to get as rich data as possible, the case study was carried out in an ethnographic manner that combined several qualitative methods, such as participant observation, in-depth interviews and informal conversations (Ryfe, 2009; Watson, 2012; Willig, 2013). The first author of this article obtained permission from the newspaper’s chief editorial group to attend the course as a participatory observer who also assisted the workshop instructor. This hybrid role provided access to the field and helped to gain the trust of the participants.

During all five workshops, observational material was collected by taking field notes and was further supplemented by many informal conversations and 14 in-depth interviews, including an interview with the course instructor. The selection of informants reflected the variety of the group in terms of the gender-ratio balance, hierarchical roles in the news organization, journalistic work experience, age and employment duration at the organization. Five informants were journalists working at the newspaper’s cross-regional newsroom, four informants were editors of the paper’s local editions, two informants were local chief editors and two informants were mid-level managers from the newspaper’s chief editorial team. Less than half of the 40 participants in the training course were reporters, although most of them were professionally educated and trained print journalists. The informants’ work experience and affiliation with the newspaper varied from 1 to 38 years.

The semi-structured interviews were conducted on site and recorded and transcribed. The informants were asked about their professional background, current job situation, experiences with audio-visual content production and attitudes toward video journalism, more specifically to smartphone-based video production. Furthermore, they were asked how they perceived their own professional role, the ongoing changes in the news organization, the training course and the expectation of their employer to extend their professional skillset. The course instructor was asked about his experiences in training professional print journalists, the challenges and opportunities of the mojo learning situation and the implications for the news organization in order to engage in audio-visual content production. The chief editors were asked about the ongoing restructuring processes in the news organization and the expectations related to the outcome of the training.

The five 2-day courses followed a tight schedule. On the first day the instructor explained the training objectives and course procedures to the group. The first practical task for the attendees was to film a short video-interview (max. 2 minutes) with a colleague using a smartphone. The video clips were shared and discussed in the group. Next, the trainer explained basic functionalities, settings and relevant applications. He introduced the ‘one shot method’, which was described as ‘a simplified method for modern online reporting’. The trainer had developed this special reporting technique to minimize the need for complex and time-consuming post-production editing.

The participants then used the method to produce a second short video interview. After filming, the videos were presented and discussed in the group, followed by lectures on visual storytelling. At the end of the day self-assigned teams of two were tasked with preparing a 90 second real life news story including an interview to be produced the second day. The next day started with a lecture focusing on how to film and how to act in the field. After returning from two hours in the field, the videos were presented and discussed with a focus on experiences and challenges encountered. The rest of the day was spent discussing issues like good interview practices, basic sound and recording techniques, and visual framing techniques. Legal and ethical issues, such as licensing, filming restrictions and archiving, were also up for debate. The mojo workshop was wrapped up with course feedback from the attendees.

In order to make sense of the extensive qualitative data, we carried out a thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998). The data were coded inductively from the gathered empirical material. First, the material was sorted into themes and topics that were identified when reading the material. Second, these preliminary codes were then structured and sorted into three overlaying thematic categories that characterize the phenomenon of developing a mojo mindset.

Analysis: Three dimensions of developing a mojo mindset

Based on the findings of this study, we propose that in order for print journalists to start producing mobile video content, it is necessary for them to develop what we have called a mojo mindset. A mojo mindset implies that a journalist is able to produce video content as a solo reporter using a smartphone as the only tool. However, developing a mojo mindset has many stages, and doing mojo can be carried out with more or less operative expertise. Having analysed the data of this study, we suggest that, fundamentally, the development of a mojo mindset involves the following three dimensions: (i) mastering mojo skills, (ii) adopting visual thinking and (iii) integrating ethical and legal awareness. The development of a mojo mindset in a news organization depends on the quality of the ongoing interactions between the individual level and the infrastructural, organizational and institutional levels. In the following section, we will delve deeper into the three interdependent dimensions of developing a mojo mindset.

Mastering mojo skills

Becoming a smartphone reporter involves a broad set of practical skills and technical knowledge that the newspaper journalists were introduced to during the 2-day training course. The market for professional equipment to enhance the smartphone multimedia production has exploded in recent years, prompting some mojo practitioners to call mobile reporting ‘a gadgets freak’s heaven’ (Salzmann et al., 2020). The mojo instructor concentrated mainly on what he regarded as the most essential and helpful or useful tools for smartphone-based reporting. Based on the advice of the instructor, every journalist who attended the training was equipped by the news organization with a new iPhone 7 Plus, a condenser microphone (iRiG Mic), an automated gimbal (DJi Osmo Mobile Phone Stabilizer), a standard photo camera tripod and professional video-editing software developed for editing on mobile devices (LumaFusion).

In order to test the print journalists’ knowledge of audio-visual reporting, the journalists had to make a short video using their smartphones without any assistance by the instructor. The results displayed deficiencies and errors that were used by the instructor to focus on the fundamental principles and rules that should guide the novices in producing ‘a compelling story’ and ‘a more professional looking piece [of video reporting]’. The exercise was used for sparking discussions about a broad range of practical and technical aspects when reporting with video (e.g. the conception and preparation of the story, choice of location and perspective, framing, exposure and important audio settings as well as how to speak and narrate a 90-second story that included an interview). According to the trainer, traditional TV editing standards and techniques were difficult to master for ‘visual novices’ and very challenging to execute on a small mobile screen. Furthermore, young digital users associated ‘the whole idea of editing’ with ‘less authentic content’. He argued that ‘digital natives were not used to the quality standards typical for professional TV formats and style’.

The journalists were afterwards asked to prepare their smartphones for shooting. This included tasks like changing basic settings, cleaning camera lenses, checking the recording capacity (memory space and battery), inspecting additional equipment (microphone, tripod) and evaluating conditions at the location, such as background, disturbing elements or effects, exposure and audio-recording necessities. Many of the editors were overwhelmed by the technical details they were confronted with, such as frame rates and image resolution standards, and by the multitude of practical issues to be considered before and during filming. When asked by the journalists about the broad range of topics discussed in the course and the need for multitasking, the course instructor answered as follows:

We are talking here about sound and audio, exposure, image composition, editing and preparation. In normal TV settings, these are specialized expert professions, that of an editor, a cutter, a cameraman, a sound and lighting technician. (Fieldnotes)

In this account, the mojo trainer paints a picture of how the technical and practical aspects in the course traditionally originated in five different fields of expertise within professional TV broadcasting. This view can be considered outdated in light of the evolving practices in multimedia journalism. In this case, however, these challenges were met with scepticism and discomfort by the majority of the print journalists and editors. Some of the editors experienced smartphone reporting as a truly overwhelming practice:

I must admit I am simply bowled over by all that. All the things we need to keep in mind, look out for and be aware of . . . and on top of all that we shall give instructions and also moderate the whole thing when I do not know where my head is . . . I am very skeptical whether I will manage all this on my own. I know that we are still too brainy for this, and, sure, we haven’t got the routines yet, but I have my doubts and think it’s quite an obstacle. All those things to plan and coordinate . . . micro and mobile, stability, flight mode, all those settings and so on . . . and mostly you will get only one chance to get it right . . . I probably need to concentrate fully on the tech to get the whole thing to work and won’t have much time for the story. (Local editor, male, 45 years)

During all the training sessions, several editors struggled to coordinate the shooting with their smartphone. It was challenging to speak while simultaneously moving, filming and keeping eye contact with an interview partner as well as keeping track of the surroundings and things that may disturb the recording or distract from the story. The majority of the editors was convinced that this new practice would substantially increase the complexity of their everyday work. They felt that there was strong pressure to immediately master all the new skills.

Editors were, for example, introduced to a handheld camera stabilizer (gimbal), which automatically adjusted and stabilized the smartphone when the journalist was moving. The tool was specially developed to support steady and smooth movements of smartphone cameras. While some attendees were eager to test and try ‘the robot arm’, as it was termed by one of them, others were more reluctant and overwhelmed by the tool. According to the instructor, the stabilizer needed ‘quite some experience for its appropriate application’. To use the tool not only depended on good technical skills but changed the perception of the smartphone journalist out in the field (being more visible/looking more professional).

During the second half of the training and after some shooting and recording exercises, the participants were introduced to a professional video-editing program (LumaFusion) developed for video editing on mobile devices. For most of the newspaper journalists, it was their first time working with a professional multi-track editing software. During the course, they were introduced to the basic functions and features of the software application and learned how to create, edit, export, share and administrate their filming projects. Although the program’s functionality was especially adjusted for editing on small-screen devices, the journalists found that it was challenging to understand the program’s functionality while simultaneously navigating and actually working with the program on the small smartphone screen. The application’s multi-track interface combined with the functional depth of a professional editing software posed significant problems for those who lacked skills in video and audio editing and were new to the basic rules for visual consistency in journalistic storytelling.

For the journalists with a background in writing, becoming a smartphone video reporter implied becoming more dependent on technology and the often-unpredictable circumstances on location. This means that the journalist needs to tackle a broad range of possible obstacles or problems and should be able to come up with creative solutions, a process that is described as tinkering (Guribye and Nyre, 2017; Salzmann et al., 2020). An integral part of the training was thus to teach unconventional practices and solutions, referred to by the instructor as ‘mojo hacks’, in order to solve the technical or practical challenges to do with the equipment used.

These mojo hacks were either developed by the instructor himself based on work experience or could be traced back to the Mojo community, a global network of mobile reporting pioneers and experts (Salzmann et al., 2020). During one of the training sessions, the instructor explained that

when you are out in the field, you always need to be prepared for some challenges, either it’s problems with your equipment or something goes wrong at the location. It’s part of the job, and I think that’s also very fun . . . In my case, I like to come up with creative solutions, and you can, which is a nice side effect, save quite a lot of money with some simple but creative solutions. (Fieldnotes)

The instructor demonstrated how a small, 0.5-L plastic bottle filled with some water and attached to the wrist of the hand holding the smartphone can be turned into an improvized stabilizer, how a wind-shield for an external microphone can easily be made, or how old earplug headphones can be re-used as an additional external microphone. Part of the mojo hacks were also practical tips, such as using the ‘shell-grip’, a way of holding the smartphone to dampen the reporter’s voice when not using an external microphone.

Adopting visual thinking

A fundamental objective of the training was to teach print journalists how and why video reporting must be approached differently from writing text. During the in-depth interview, the instructor explained this as follows:

You see, they are all novices in terms of visual language, not to talk about audio. They really need to learn to think in images and in living videos and also need to talk differently. They have to change their mindset completely. That’s practically the main challenge of this course and is fundamental for working with video and multimedia storytelling.

For many of the participants, this was a profound challenge. Most of the editors had no or very little experience in multimedia reporting, which not only marked them as ‘visual novices’ but as ‘audio-visual novices’. All the course participants, however, had previously filmed with their smartphones and had done audio recordings, but mostly for fun and on private occasions. A majority had deliberately chosen to become writers. They saw their particular strength in their writing skills and ‘thinking in text’ rather than ‘thinking visually’ as an informant explained:

I see myself as a writing journalist. Before and during my academic education, I did practical trainings that were focusing on image production, but that didn’t have any appeal to me. I just realized that I am not the visual type. That’s what I’ve found out. It’s difficult to for me to combine everything—to think the image and then to think the text. I wanted rather to learn to express myself in writing and thought. So, firstly, I wanted to learn to write, and that’s why I have only worked with writing. (Female editor, 46, interview)

Even though all informants had been trained in the basics of journalistic photography at the university, their professional identity was strongly anchored in ‘being a writer’ and ‘expressing themselves with words’. Many informants mentioned they had a high affinity toward texts and ‘a linguistic thinking’ rather than having a talent for ‘visual or audio-visual imagination’. Thinking in pictures was associated with the work of their colleagues in broadcasting. It was described by the newspaper journalists as ‘a complete different craft’ and bound to a different journalistic culture, as a comment by a local editor-in-chief exemplifies:

When I turn up at an event, the colleagues from the WDR [regional TV network of the German public-service broadcaster] are always there. Somehow, they annoy me every time. They always take so much space in the field. They are running here and running there, back and forth, rigging up all their cables and technical equipment and pushing themselves in front of everywhere. They take the whole scene as if it were theirs. (Male, local chief editor, 35)

Television journalists were considered by the informants as ‘more forward-pushing’, ‘more-active’, ‘extrovert’, ‘directive’, and ‘doing several things at a time’ compared to their understanding of a print journalist’s habitus, which was in contrast dominated by descriptions such as ‘being more reserved’, ‘being more comfortable to stand and work in the background’, ‘focused on one thing at a time’, and ‘having deeper reflections’. The print journalists’ perception of their broadcasting colleagues also corresponds with a study by Meltzer (2009), who found that while print journalists were regarded as ‘genuine craftsmen’ in the internal hierarchies of cultural authority ‘TV journalists are still considered the problem partners of the field’ (Meltzer, 2009: 61) and at the bottom of the hierarchy.

During the training sessions, the instructor explained what ‘audio-visual thinking’ meant in practice from his perspective:

You need to go where something happens, not where the press conference is being held . . . you need to think here differently and in pictures. You need to ask yourself, “How can I express this with video?” It doesn’t have anything to do with the method but with video. Nothing is more boring than a film where nothing is happening. If there is nothing exciting, then you need to make some action, like “Ok, let’s go over here or inside there.” . . . The advantage is that it enables you to use a different form of storytelling. You can catch people’s emotions, and you get on a personal level with people. (Fieldnotes)

The underlying requirement of ‘something needing to happen’ or ‘showing something exciting’ was seen by some journalists as a challenge in the context of their daily work routines as local editors. Another journalist pointed out the following paradox that prompted some discussion: ‘To me it is quite strange. On the one hand, you think video gives a greater moment of authenticity, but on the other hand, much of it is very constructed’. Audio-visual reporting and the demand of ‘thinking in pictures’, or as the instructor formulated it ‘always watch with the eyes of your audience’, follows completely different premises than writing texts. In addition, the practice of video reporting seems to be bound to a range of soft skills that the journalists are expected to aspire to, as the instructor’s following to the journalists exemplifies:

You know, video storytelling is a completely different way of reporting . . . It’s always important that it is you who has the last say on it. Treat the microphone as your scepter and never let it out of your hands! You are the boss and the director of the story . . . And always think very carefully about your wording. No announcements but instead targeted calls, like “Ok, let’s go over here!” or “Explain that to me, please!” (Fieldnotes)

For several of the print journalists, ‘acting as the director’ and talking in imperatives was an unusual experience. The forward-pushing and extrovert attitude expected of journalists in video reporting was critically viewed as a mismatch that was not in alignment with the participants` perception of the journalist role and the idea of a balanced and fact-based journalism. As a local editor explained, ‘Normally, when I make story, I write everything down and pick the good things out afterwards’. He continued that he needed ‘time to think thoroughly’ and ‘to consider the whole story’, which meant thinking about the narrative and the persons involved. Another journalist argued that writing texts not only give the journalists better time to think, but, in most cases, the time to rewrite or ‘re-polish’ a text as well. Sources can be contacted afterwards for further clarifications, and the story adapted or changed accordingly. Producing a mobile video, by contrast, was experienced as a ‘fixed one-off method’, putting the journalist under pressure to get everything straight away on the first attempt. Especially the filming was ‘a stressful and overwhelming situation of multitasking’, where the journalist has to simultaneously coordinate and control the equipment, the surroundings of the shooting location, the persons to be interviewed and their own speech.

Integrating ethical and legal awareness

An unexpected, prominent issue that surfaced during the training sessions was legal and ethical issues and institutional arrangements linked to the production and publication of audio-visual media material. Mobile-based video reporting was seen by the newspaper management as an important part of their digital strategy and the journalism training as a step to better integrate smartphones in journalists’ everyday work ‘to overcome their fear of filming’. However, neither the management nor the trained editors appeared to be aware of the broader consequences of producing and distributing videos on digital platforms, which was hinted at by the instructor during the training:

If you are going to publish your video content on a regular basis, then you have to realize that you are becoming by now a TV station. This means you need always to consider the ethical and legal aspects that are related to your work. In some cases, filming itself is considered a criminal act . . . You see, there is a reason why broadcasters always have large legal departments as part of their organization.

The production and distribution of videos on digital platforms, especially in Germany, follows a wide range of ethical standards and a complex regulatory framework based on the German media and press law, the fundamental rights of informational self-determination, data privacy regulations, copyrights and the legal enforcement of the protection of youth and children. To navigate this ‘jungle of rules’ as the instructor put it, he pointed out that developing visual awareness among the journalists is not enough for the institution when transitioning to a mojo mindset. He urged the editors to develop better supportive structures and routines within the organization to back up mojo journalism and emphasized the importance of indexing web archives, providing copyright agreements, and securing internal judicial assistance and expertise similar to TV-based news institutions.

Even though only the most important regulations were mentioned during the training, exemplified by a few cases and real-life scenarios, the topic of ethical and legal considerations sparked vivid discussions in the group. The fact that in most cases a prior acquisition of filming rights is necessary before shooting represented for some another obstacle in the already time-consuming practice of video reporting and suggested the prospect of new hurdles.

Another issue that often came up during the workshops was the legal restrictions on filming children and young adults under the age of 18. The issue was closely related to the daily work routines of some local editors, and many of the editors were surprised by the fact that recording and distributing audio or/and visual content of minors is basically considered a criminal act and regulated by the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch). In other words, filming children and teenagers is not an easy matter for German journalists and is only possible under specific rules and with permissions. For some of the local editors who regularly report on activities of local youth clubs, schools, or kindergartens, this came as a surprise, making the prospects of their new work practices even more complicated:

I report regularly on the activities of the local kindergarten. This has always been part of my work, and actually people in the local communities are very interested what happens there. How shall I deal with that, when I am supposed to deliver from now on videos, but the filming of children is not allowed? (Local editor, female, 32 years)

In order to deal with the complicated regulations, especially in cases as the one mentioned above, the instructor pointed out that it would be necessary to develop ‘a sensitivity and awareness about the juridical and ethical questions’ that smartphone reporting involves. This applies not only to individual journalists but to the whole news organization.

Some of the attending sports journalists were more enthusiastic about the new possibilities that smartphone-based video production could offer for their work. The regional newspaper regularly covered news about the local football club, which is one of the most famous and professional sports clubs in Germany (Borussia Dortmund). One of the journalists working in the sports section explains this as follows:

I think if we could deliver some short clips to our texts that would be really great . . . for example, when I make an interview with one of the players during a training session. This would definitely have added value. Especially for us in the sports department. The fans are eager to get news about the club. So, I think smartphone reporting is very interesting for us. (Sports journalist, male, 39 years)

However, the positive expectations of the sports journalists were dampened after they became aware of the sports clubs’ complex and strict filming licence–management.

Discussion

This study has explored a training situation where professional editors and newspaper journalists at a regional German publisher were trained in smartphone-based video reporting and audio-visual storytelling. The training course was part of a larger strategic re-orientation of the news organization. The main objective of the training was to introduce the print journalists to smartphone-based video reporting and to stimulate a new way of thinking by getting rid of what the managers referred to as ‘outdated newspaper-thinking’.

In our analysis, we focused on three broad themes that were central to training print journalists in mojo and smartphone video reporting. Below, we summarize each of these themes and identify possible implications of our findings concerning how journalists need to be multi-skilled, to be prepared to readjust their professional identities, and how they will face new ethical challenges when embracing mobile journalism.

Mastering mojo skills

The first theme is the most discussed and documented one by previous research. When adopting new workflows and tools into journalistic work, learning how to operate and use these tools is fundamental (Burum, 2016; Kumar and Mohamed Haneef, 2018; Wenger et al., 2014). In line with previous research in the field, we emphasized how learning these skills is tightly interconnected with the tools of the trade (Weilenmann et al., 2014) and how the journalists need to take on the role of a multiskilled all-rounder (Bock, 2012; Deuze, 2004; Martyn, 2009; Perez and Cremedas, 2014; Phillips et al., 2009). The examples given in our rich description of the training and the topics addressed further corroborate how the journalists need a combination of the traditional journalistic skills, technical skills and digital competences (see, e.g. Burum, 2016; Burum and Quinn, 2016). In some cases, this also involves using their own body as a tool (Bock, 2011), working with how they move their body around to establish a presence in the field to get the right shots, and even ‘zooming with your feet’. Moreover, these multimedia journalism skills enable the journalist to work across platforms, shoot video, record audio, write, edit and publish stories. The mojo reporter needs to relate to an infrastructure and an ecology of tools (Guribye and Nyre, 2017; Salzmann et al., 2020), such as social media platforms and in-house publishing systems.

Further, working as a smartphone reporter means not only learning skills and basic principles of traditional broadcasting but adapting workflows and engaging in practices fostered by smartphone solo reporting, including new forms of storytelling and following new trends in digital culture (see Kumar and Mohamed Haneef, 2018). Smartphone reporting also involves more meta-level skills, such as tinkering (Adams, 2019; Guribye and Nyre, 2017; Salzmann et al., 2020) which was described in the training as learning how to do ‘mojo hacks’.

Adopting visual thinking

Learning how to operate a smartphone camera and edit video on your smartphone or computer with expertise and creativity are key parts of developing mojo skills. In our analysis, however, we saw examples of how mastering audio-visual media goes beyond just learning how to use new tools and new ways of storytelling. The transition also involves thinking differently – that is, adopting visual thinking. In our case, this way of thinking was perceived to be counter to the professional identity of the editors and print journalists. Their identity was strongly anchored in ‘being a writer’ and ‘expressing themselves with words’. They had an affinity toward texts and a linguistic thinking rather than visual thinking or audiovisual imagination. Some of our informants also stated that one of the reasons for choosing to become a journalist was motivated by their particular strength in expressing themselves with words. Audiovisual reporting, by contrast, was experienced as a completely different craft, which was linked to a natural ability for visual dexterity and also to certain sets of personal traits or interests that differ from how the print journalists perceived themselves. Broadcasting was seen as a different craft that relied on different behaviour, such as being more extrovert, pushing forward, taking space and being in the middle of the scene. A particular challenge that illustrates this dilemma is the need to know how to construct authenticity with pictures. In the field there is little time to think and reflect, but the mojo reporter should find the right scenes, interview the right people and take a more directive role. This challenge also relates to how smartphone reporters should use social media spaces to publish and disseminate the story, for instance via live streaming. Adopting visual thinking is closely connected to the professional identity of journalists and challenges an established mindset (se also Bock, 2011; McGuire and Murray, 2013; Robinson, 2011). The new media spaces thus challenge the core of what it means to be a journalist (Deuze, 2004; Hermida, 2019; Wallace, 2009).

Integrating ethical and legal awareness

A dimension of mojo practice that has been emphasized by researchers is how the introduction of new technologies challenges the ethical considerations that are part of the journalistic practice (Burum, 2016; Guribye and Nyre, 2017; Hill and Bradshaw, 2018; Quinn, 2012; Salzmann et al., 2020). The awareness of codes of conduct in audio-visual reporting as well as other ethical and legal aspects related to mobile technology, often in relation to social media, prompted new potential dangers and ethical dilemmas to be discussed. ‘Working as a mojo often involves high-speed reporting’ (Quinn, 2012: 58) as being in the field with a smartphone provides new opportunities for capturing footage and livestreaming events at the moment when something happens. Journalists might get very close to actions and events in an unobtrusive manner (Burum and Quinn, 2016; Karhunen, 2017).

In our analysis, we found that it is key for reporters to have and be aware of the supportive structures in the organization that could guide them in their audio-visual work as there are new ethical challenges and legal frameworks that pertain to this work. The ethical challenges are related not only to each journalist being aware of the legal framework and the pertinent ethical concerns but to the institutional level. A news organization, when transitioning to a mojo culture, needs to have institutional preparedness, meaning that they need new routines and ethical guidelines as well as legal resources for handling matters of privacy, visual copyright, licensing and media archiving. The training itself is a step in providing the journalists and editors with more insight into these topics, thus, preparing the organization for the transition to integrating mojo practice into their ways of working.

Concluding remarks

The increasing prominence of visual content prompts the news media to embrace audio-visual journalism in new ways. At first sight, training print journalists in smartphone video reporting seems to be, for some publishers, an affordable and easy way to turn writers into audio-visual storytellers. Such adaption speaks to what Sennett (2019) has called ‘the primacy of the visual in societal communication’, which, according to Martin and Von Pape (2013), is especially linked to mobile technology. However, turning print journalists into multitasking, fast-thinking and fast-acting smartphone video reporters is a highly challenging and ambitious goal that often conflicts with the reporters’ established professional identities (Burum, 2016; McGuire and Murray, 2013) and their notion of what they are talented in.

Even though news organizations make huge investments in continuous in-house training in new technological skills, the research literature on the effects and implications of such training is still scarce. This article has identified three broad themes that are relevant when training print journalists in audio-visual storytelling and smartphone-based reporting. The first theme was concerned with how the journalists have to learn new skills, adapt and become multi-skilled. In our analysis, we emphasized how acquiring new skills is tied to an infrastructure and ecology of tools. The second theme addressed how adopting visual thinking is not only a matter of storytelling but a dimension that is tightly connected to the journalists’ professional identity. The final theme dealt with how it is key for journalists to become aware of the ethical challenges and legal frameworks that are tied to smartphone-based reporting. Such awareness and challenges are closely related to organizational and institutional arrangements and require an institutional preparedness on behalf of the news organization. Moreover, we argued that these three dimensions are key to understanding what it means to adopt a mojo mindset in a newsroom context.