Sentinel.com blog

The iPad is becoming a bigger part of everything we do in the news world.

More people are using it to consume news. More people are using it for social sharing. More people are using it for web browsing, and if you want to show anyone photos of your kids, there’s nothing better.

More people are finding the iPad takes the place of a desktop computer, or a laptop computer. And the iPad’s productivity tools continue to get better.

When the Sentinel offered a plan for employees to buy iPads through a payroll deduction, we wound up with a stack of 26 of them that were handed out last month.

How are reporters using them?

Well, they’re learning. They’re working on typing stories into Google docs and sending them back to the desk (pro tip – work through the Google search app, rather than the browser). They’re working on photo sharing on Twitter and Instagram through the iPad. They’re exploring apps like Evernote (for note taking with multimedia) and Dragon Dictation. They’re looking at photo editing tools through Photoshop Express, video editing with iMovie.
They’re getting their own news through Flipboard and Zite.
They’re looking at Storify as a way of gathering social reaction to events.
They’re looking at AP news.
They’re checking out Cloud On (for accessing excel and Word files).

Sentinel reporters Shanna McCord and Jason Hoppin browse through app stores for iPad and iPhone and talk about productivity tools for journalists.

My advice for journalists – be curious. Imagine how your audience is getting your work and try to shorten the distance between you and the reader. Imagine how the audience of the future will receive your work, and meet them there. I think a lot of reporters are thinking they report, write, send to an editor, who sends to page designer, the story prints and somehow winds up on our website. There are a million ways for reporters and editors to improve you own brand, improve your own digital skills, improve the information you receive about your beat, and serve the audience. With regard to the iPad, it contains all the tools needed to perform your daily work in the journalism world. Consider taking a day to cover your beat using only that tool – progress on the learning curve will be worth the effort.

Make a point of seeing what’s possible for readers, and of thinking about how you can help create that experience for your own readers.

Here are a few of the apps you may find helpful:

• Twitter, a must for being informed and breaking news
• Storify – for collecting and re-sharing social media and other links
• Evernote – multimedia note taking in the cloud
• Dragon Dictation
• Photoshop Express – photo editing
• Instagram- social photo sharing
• iMovie – video editing
• AP mobile – breaking news from Associated press
• iA Writer – simple writing template
• Zite, Flipboard, Feedly – readers
• Google – if you’ve been a gmailer and fan of google’s productivity tools, use the app, where applications and services are optimized

Other suggestions: Here’s a discussion in Quora (thanks @ivanlajara): What are the best iPad apps for journalists?

We all welcome your tips.

By Christina Gullickson, cgullickson@santacruzsentinel.com

Sometimes we journalists will come across a story that captures our interest on another level. It may not be big news or something that affects a lot of people, but it’s something we really want to cover, something we want to tell our friends about because we’ve been touched or inspired in some way.

For a digital producer like myself (who spends far more time at her desk managing content than getting out in the community meeting people), that turned out to be the case when I tagged along with my colleague Kim White one afternoon last month after she invited me and my little point-and-shoot camera to sit in on an interview with paramedic and firefighter Chris Stubendorff.

As he talked with us in a conference room at the Scotts Valley Fire Department, where he is employed, I found myself gripped by his story and the details of the horrific car accident he survived in 2010. Later, I was able to meet his wife of five years, Rameena, at their home in Aptos where they live with their three dogs. Listening to Chris and Rameena’s story, I got chills, I thought about life, and I became awe-inspired by their perseverance and positive attitudes.

This video was the result of my time with them. I sincerely hope you find their story as inspiring as I did.

Now, I didn’t show it much in this video — because Chris and Rameena focus so much of their energy on trying to have a positive outlook toward the future — but it was clear parts of them are still angry with the driver who caused the crash, as I am sure you can imagine. Rameena gets emotional when she talks about the time they were considering what actions they might take against the other driver and having a district attorney tell her that he “has more rights than you.” (You may find it a small consolation that the other driver was reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs.)

I also found it interesting that, despite help from the Fallen Officer Foundation and the Stubendorffs’ insurance covering many medical costs, the couple accrued bills for other items (renting a hospital bed for home) and necessities (Rameena had to stay in a hotel in Southern California just after the crash) to the tune of about $10,000.

It’s amazing to me — with all the negatives one might take away from that night on Highway 46 and its aftermath — that Chris and Rameena are able to focus on the positives after their lives were incredibly and forever changed.

If you’re curious to know more about how Chris is doing that in his return to duty this coming week, Kim’s article talks about his personal experience influencing how he plans to approach patient care.