Smartphone Journalism: Modern Academic and Practical Approaches to the Study

The aim of the article is to study modern academic approaches to the «smartphone journalism» concept and outline the main practical vectors of its existence.

The following methods formed the methodological basis of the research: comparative analysis of academic points of view and of the practical component, description of the «mobile» and «smartphone» journalism terms and their identification; offer of the author’s own vision of the smartphone journalism term.

Results. In the article, the author’s vision of the «mobile journalism» term is offered. The existing ratings of mobile applications, which are useful for the work of a journalist, are analyzed. Ratings for analysis were selected from the competent sources: Detector Media, Institute of the Mass Communication, and European Journalism Observatory. All agencies distribute mobile applications according to their intended purpose, but the range of programs offered is quite different.

The article examines the smartphone journalism concept as a separate field of functioning on the Internet. The main approaches to the study were considered, a number of academic views on the phenomenon were collected, and the synonymy between the «smartphone» and «mobile» journalism terms was demonstrated. The existing approaches to the functioning of mobile journalism are described in view of the development of technological, information and communication components of society. Attention is focused on the formation of the latest skills and knowledge of journalist-practitioners to work with content, coverage of relevant information for the audience, and the practical component of working with content.

Novelty. The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies not only in the comparative analysis of terms in the academic literature and the identification of terms, but also in an attempt to make offers to the terminology in the mobile journalism field.

The practical significance lies in the description of mobile journalism as a concept unique to applied social and communication technologies in view of all spheres of life of society and the country through the process of rapid coverage of all kinds of events.

Key words: mobile journalism, content, mobilography, smartphone journalism, mobile applications.