Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

MoJo Challenge: When a smartphone wins in Covid-19 coverage

21/05/2020

Lebanese-based Nisrine Ajab has won the Thomson Foundation mobile journalism challenge and five others have been commended.

Nisrine, who is from Beirut, along with others on the competition's final shortlist, discarded planned videos because of the coronavirus lockdown and shifted instead to filming the impact of the pandemic on their communities.

The course had been due to be completed by the end of March but Thomson Foundation extended the deadline into April because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also issued new guidelines, recommending participants work from home and to make coronavirus the theme of their videos.

Rather than abandon the programme because of the lockdowns, we thought it important to highlight how mobile journalism was even more an essential tool for journalism in the circumstances, says Hosam El Nagar, director of inovation and learning at the foundation. The majority of journalists have a phone with them and it is the one tool that will combine multimedia with connectivity.

A simple life under lockdown Now in its sixth year, the challenge, run in partnership with MojoFest, the world's longest running smartphone content creators festival, is aimed at helping journalists around the world make better use of their smart phones. Participants completed a series of free online courses and, for their final assignment, made a film entirely on their smartphones.

For her final assignment, Nisrine interviewed a neighbour to produce an outstanding, elegiac film about growing lavender in the mountains above Beirut.

As well as tips on how to grow lavender, her erudite neighbour had a wider message about how the coronavirus should encourage people to recognise the value of a simpler life.

The story was editorially and visually engaging, the variety of shots was dynamic and very well filmed, the editing had good pacing and was very well executed, and technically the piece stood out among the competing entries, says Glen Mulcahy, the foundation's in-house expert on mobile journalism and founder of MojoFest.

-- Play

-- --

Finalists Nisrine was one of six finalists in the Mobile Journalism Challenge.

The other finalists were:

-- Play

-- --

Marina Milad - A digitial investigative journalist from Cairo. For her final assignment completed before lockdown, Marina produced a dramatic, newsy film on the consequences of flooding in Egypt.

-- Play

-- --

Maksuda Aziz - a multimedia journalist from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her engaging and sympathetic film centred on the impact of the lockdown on a family during the Covid-19 pandemic

-- Play

-- --

Lika Toloraia - A journalist from Dnipro, Ukraine. Her video shot during lockdown in the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the confusion over restrictions imposed during the lockdown.

-- Play

-- --

Christophe Hitayezu - A news correspondent for the news platform Down to Earth India in Kigali, Rwanda. His enterprising piece stitched together items about Covid-19 from social media.

-- Play

-- --

Daria Smetanko - A journalist working for the television channel Ukraine based in Kyiv in Ukraine. Her film catalogued a day in her life as a journalist under lockdown.

Prize Nisrine won an all-expenses-paid trip to MojoFest in London. MojoFest was originally scheduled for May but has been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The other five shortlisted have been commended for outstanding content. All who completed the course receive certificates of achievement.

Overall, I felt the quality was well above average, says judge Glen Mulcahy. And clearly demonstrated that going through the free Foundation Mojo course on Journalism Now paid dividends in quality and approach of the storytelling.

The judges were: Glen, who is a former head of innovation with RTE, Ireland's national public broadcaster: Hosam El Nagar, who is leading Thomson Foundation's drive into e-learning; Berna Namata, journalist and the foundation's Africa specialist; and Ewen MacAskill, the foundation's mentor and award-winning former Guardian journalist.

The importance of mobile journalism

Glen Mulcahy - Covering the Covid-19 Pandemic - Smartphones For over a decade, the mantra among mobile photographers and mobile journalists has been the best camera is the one you have with you. In these unprecedented times of social distancing and working from home that device, the smartphone, can - and has - empowered a vast array of journalism and storytelling.

To be able to leverage it to even a fraction of its full potential requires knowledge and understanding of the best apps, accessories, workflows and hacks available.

Now, more than ever, journalists need to be able to competently utilise the tools they already own. It's not just a phone. It's a HD/4k video camera, a diverse photography device, a complete video and/or audio editing tool, a broadcast live streaming too that can also make phone calls. Learn to use it.

Ewen MacAskill Investigative journalism

Ewen MacAskill is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former defence and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian who acts as a mentor for Thomson Foundation trainees.

We get around. Explore our project map
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/mojo-challenge-when-a-smartpho...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

06/07/2026

Inside OneSoccer's FIFA World Cup Ops: Canada's Soccer Network Goes Behind the Scenes for CanMNT's Historic Moment

Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...

06/07/2026

Lumine Group Acquires Imagine Communications, Continues To Build Portfolio of Media Businesses

The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...

06/07/2026

SVG All-Stars: Stuart Mitchell, Senior Coordinating Producer, Spectrum SportsNet LA

This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...

06/07/2026

Case Study: How IMS Productions and FOX Sports Scaled Coverage of the 109th Indianapolis 500

IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...

06/07/2026

Lumine Group Completes Acquisition of Synamedias Video Network Business

Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...

06/07/2026

NASCAR and Motorsport Network Announce Content and Commercial Partnership

NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...

06/07/2026

Versant To Acquire Full Swing for Approximately $530 Million

Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...

06/07/2026

DAZN Secures Global Rights to 3ICE Hockey

DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...

06/07/2026

Synth Anthology 5 From UVI

Bundle gains 100 new synths & more Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...

06/07/2026

MOTU 16A, 848 & 10pre gain Milan certification

Available now via free firmware update MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...

06/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Communications System

Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...

06/07/2026

The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the quality of packaged goods in real time

The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...

06/07/2026

INVITATION FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKERS TO SUBMIT FILMS FOR THE 99TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (OSCARS) INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM CATEGORY

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...

06/07/2026

Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice President, Operations

Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...

06/07/2026

Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development

Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development Brie Clayton July 6, 2026 0 Comments The strategic new appointment supports...

06/07/2026

Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve

Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve Michael Cioni July 6, 2026 0 Comments This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...

06/07/2026

Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro

Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro Colin Smith July 6, 2026 0 Comments Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...

06/07/2026

Flavor's FirstEver Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Executive Producer Kate Smith Rises to Lead the Studio

Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...

06/07/2026

How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat

How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...

06/07/2026

Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with the first drop

Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...

06/07/2026

Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy

Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy intellisphereinsyght2026 6 July Written By Suzanne Costello Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...

06/07/2026

Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a commercial streaming champion for the UK

Monday 6 July 2026 Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...

06/07/2026

Pico Lopes joins RT's FIFA World Cup 2026 Live panel

Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...

06/07/2026

How Nations Are Deploying AI for Strategic Priorities

Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...

06/07/2026

How Open Models Are Driving AI Research

Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work. This year's ...

06/07/2026

New RT documentary The Girl in the Water follows one family's search for answers following the death of their 23-year-old daughter

A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained What happened to Ke...

05/07/2026

Fox Sports AR/XR Studio Graphics Team Shows Power of Next-Generation Operations

We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...

05/07/2026

Free Behringer Synth Editor

Browser-based and desktop apps available Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...

04/07/2026

Inside OneSoccers FIFA World Cup Ops: Canadas Soccer Network Goes Behind the Scenes for CanMNTs Historic Moment

When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...

04/07/2026

Rhodes to launch the MK8/80AE

Celebrates company's 80th anniversary Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...

04/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program

Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program Brie Clayton July 3, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...

04/07/2026

iZotope Joins Boris FX

iZotope Joins Boris FX Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026 0 Comments iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/07/2026

VSL reveal Synchron Brass (muted)

New bundle & three Single Packs Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...

03/07/2026

London Symphony Orchestra upgrade LSO St Luke's

Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...

03/07/2026

Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV

Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV 3 July, 2026 Media releases National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...

03/07/2026

2023

1 February 2023 SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...

03/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions Acquires BFE

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

AdClarity Expands CTV Offering to 20 Countries

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

Mountain West Conference Launches SVOD Service With New Revenue Model

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

Death Star

Death Star Andy Marken July 2, 2026 0 Comments Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...

03/07/2026

Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's Next

Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...

03/07/2026

July 01, 2026

Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...

03/07/2026

July 02, 2026

Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...

02/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Abby Finke, University of Dayton

Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD In the live-sports...

02/07/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 22: Winnipeg Jets Kyle Balharry - Going to Work in the Great White North

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...