Journalists! Use Mloovi to make your research more inclusive.
According to many sources, notably PR Newswire, journalists are not only increasingly turning to the internet to research news, they’re more than likely to use the internet as their sole source for many stories. Potentially a dangerous situation?
We can imagine the scenario where a local news journo may still use traditional methods of research, simply because it’s so much easier to contact and interview local people; visit local sites; and maintain long term ‘tabs’ on local issues.
However, consider for a moment the journalist who needs to report on events at the other end of the country, or on the opposite side of the globe. Those ‘traditional’ methods soon become unwieldy, expensive and just not do-able in a given timescale. Clearly, the leading vehicles for news – national TV stations, national press etc. – have got the budgets to pay more than lip-service to ‘phone calls, travel, surveillance, and shoe shuffling groundwork. What about other journalists – the freelancers in particular?
There’s a danger that just using the internet for news research will lead to simple regurgitation of source material, thus dimishing the value of each subsequent news item, and devolving the journalist to nothing but an echo box.
One way to inject freshness, other viewpoints and perhaps more facts, is to procure news from non-native language sources. For example, relying on English-language websites and blogs to get any kind of perspective on the unfolding Iranian story is a sure-fire way to Get The Wrong Slant.
This is where Mloovi comes in. ( Come on, don’t be surprised: this is why I’m here! )
By using Mloovi to search for foreign language blogs, newssites, bulletins, and then by subscribing to translated RSS feeds, it’s possible to get quite specific information piped right at you.
Here’s an example, using the Iranian election debacle.
Over time it’s possible to build up suites of translated feeds to cover not only topical events but also to monitor the most obscure activity. Want to know how a Vietnamese blogger manages his vegetable plot for your parish magazine? Well, if our green-fingered buddy is blogging about it, you can now understand it!
