Around the World in 80 Days
For Immediate Release
July 12, 2011
Kelowna, BC
New technology from VeriCorder allows Grassroots News International to launch news network in 194 Countries in 80 Days
Around the World in 80 Days
It sounded like an impossible mission. Create a global news network, in 194 countries, in just 80 days. Oh, and by the way, it has to be run by just three people!
On July 1, 2011 Grassroots News will go Around the World in 80 Days. The Kona, Hawaii-based non-profit company will attempt to produce an original story in every sovereign nation of the world: 194 nations by September 18, 2011.
Their goal is to tell a story from a grassroots perspective from every nation of the world. Journalists from Grassroots News International are helping shape the future of digital news.
But to do that, Grassroots needed a cutting edge solution; so, they came to VeriCorder Technology with their vision to create an international news network. The challenge was to integrate news bureaus from around the world, create a simple workflow and provide cost-effective production tools. Creating a news network from scratch on a budget.
In just three weeks, VeriCorder created a massively scaleable Hyper Local news blog that, amazingly, can be updated from thousands of mobile phones simultaneously. Reporters can download the 1st Video Net editing app for iPhone or iPod. They record, edit and then send their stories directly into the site. From there, editors simply have to review and press the ‘Publish’ button. All videos automatically post to the right channel, complete with headlines, text stories, and thumbnail photos.
“We are two companies who met each other at the right time, with the same vision,” says VeriCorder CEO Gary Symons. “Our vision as a company is to build affordable, efficient media distribution tools that drastically lower the cost of media production and distribution. By doing this, we believe professional journalism will become economically viable in this online world.
“Grassroots News is dedicated to restoring real journalism at the grassroots level all over the world, often in places that are remote and impoverished.”
As it turns out, VeriCorder recently released the VeriLocal system; what Symons calls the most advanced online media network system in the world.
GNI saw the system as the perfect way to launch a viable network, with tools that were affordable and efficient. “This is a great chance for our reporters to experiment with the latest in digital news-gathering technology,” says GNI’s Dianne Becker. “The idea that we can shoot, edit and upload a story all from one device is ideal for breaking news.”
VeriCorder built the system, and provided the VeriCorder MoJo hardware kit. Centered around the amazing Owle Bubo by ALM Live, this kit turns an ordinary iPhone or iPod into a high-quality camera, capable of broadcast-quality video. VeriCorder also provided training for the equipment, editing apps and the VeriLocal system. In short, a one-stop shop to build an entire, integrated network.
“When we demonstrated this at the NAB Show and the BEA Show in April, people were amazed,” Symons says. “As a demonstration, I literally ran a global network, with 24 newsrooms, completely from our iPhones. Since then, we have begun building systems for networks big and small throughout the world. But without a doubt, the coolest one is Grassroots News.
“We are very proud to be part of this great initiative to provide real journalism where it’s needed most.”
For more information on VeriCorder, see www.vericorder.com, or contact:
Gary Symons, CEO of VeriCorder Technology Inc. c/o Heather Eichinger, at 250-681-0610 or email heather.eichinger@vericorder.com
Background:
About Grass Roots News
Grassroots News is:
A non-profit training movement supported by seasoned journalists, filmmakers and storytellers to provide content to multiple platforms. GNI empowers people on the ground to report reliable news from which any individual or reporting outlet can draw.
Grassroots News Vision
Students, volunteers and people from all walks of life are joining together to see something unprecedented: an honest look at our world from a grassroots perspective.
Every international story starts local, every bystander is a witness and every witness has a story to tell. Today’s technology is enabling their voices to be heard around the world and your voice could be one of them. When much of the international press was still days away from the heartbreak and heroes of the epicenter of the Haitian earthquake, Grassroots news reporters from within the community were already on the scene. When sex slavery went unnoticed on the streets of America, our cameras exposed the injustice. So when the next big story is breaking out in your city or your village or your neighborhood, you could either stand on the sidelines, or you can make the news.
About VeriCorder Technology
VeriCorder is a technology company based in Kelowna, BC, Canada, at the Accelerate Okanagan high-tech center. The company was founded by former mobile journalist Gary Symons to develop solutions for mobile journalism, and for hyper-local media networks. This year VeriCorder has unveiled ‘VeriLocal’, the first comprehensive system to build, manage and monetize a successful hyper local network system. VeriLocal allows companies to deploy and manage reporters using its 1st Video mobile editing applications, integrated into its online media playout system. The system includes the FindStringers.com service, which allows media companies to find, hire, and integrate any freelance reporter into their newsroom system, within seconds. Grassroots News is the first media company to adopt the full FindStringers system, which is still in beta.
About Action Life Media
Maker of the Owle Bubo, Action Life Media (ALM) is a company of Dreamers, Athletes, Professionals and Creative Minds. ALM is dedicated to giving everyone the tools to share their lives and their view of the world in video, with less stress, less mess, and better quality. ALM products are used and endorsed by some of the top athletes, media outlets and companies in the world. This year, in partnership with VeriCorder Technology, ALM is producing a full mobile journalism hardware kit that is already in use with the military, marketing companies, and top media companies around the world.
For more information on ALM Live and the amazing Bubo camera mount for iPhone, go to www.almlive.com
