Appalachian State University joins Global MoJo Project
Appalachian has agreed to help VeriCorder Technology Inc. launch a worldwide media network. Called the Global MoJo Project, VeriCorder’s initiative is a massive, global experiment in mobile journalism, digital media, and hyper local network systems.
Students will be recording and editing video news stories using just an iPhone, and the 1st Video editing app from VeriCorder. The stories will then be automatically posted into the Global Mojo website, which is based on VeriCorder’s new VeriLocal technology.
“This is a great chance for our students to experiment with the latest in digital news-gathering technology,” says Dr. Frank A. Aycock, professor of broadcasting and electronic media.
The Global Mojo Project is the brainchild of VeriCorder CEO Gary Symons. A former broadcast journalist with Canada’s CBC News, Symons founded VeriCorder specifically to create mobile journalism applications, and hyper local media networks that monetize themselves.
“We started this company to give media companies and reporters a way to combat the fragmentation of their advertising markets,” Symons explains. “The idea is that, if we can massively reduce the cost of production for both news and advertising, then media networks can remain viable in the modern digital age.”
Symons says the Global MoJo network is a living example of how a media company can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and still maintain quality.
“We launched the Global MoJo Network in three weeks, using nothing but our online tech, some iPhones, and the great volunteers at the BEA and some of the best journalism schools in the world. What we hope to show is that, with the right technology, media companies can create quality content with much smaller budgets, and thus compete with the growing multitude of online bloggers.”
Global MoJo is being co-sponsored by the Broadcast Educators Association, and Phoenix-based ALM Live, which is donating their MoJo (Mobile Journalism) hardware kits. ALM Live produces the amazing Bubo camera mount, which allows reporters to attach professional lenses, mics, and other accessories to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
“The Bubo is already very popular with video bloggers and extreme sports athletes,” says ALM Live CEO Mike Kenney. “What we want to do now is prove that, properly equipped, iPhones can be used as a professional tool for journalists as well.”
The Global MoJo Network will have separate channels or pages for each participating organization. Students and reporters will submit video and stories primarily through the 1st Video iPhone app, which will post automatically into the company’s VeriLocal media system. It will start operating this week, run throughout the BEA conference and NAB Show in mid-April, and continue until early May.
Several schools and organizations have joined the Global MoJo Project already. It is now operating in ten countries and four continents, with 16 participating newsrooms around the world.
For more information on the Global MoJo Project, see www.vericorder.com, or contact:
Gary Symons, CEO of VeriCorder Technology Inc. c/o Heather Eichinger, (250-681-0610) or heather.eichinger@vericorder.com
