Americans are increasingly getting their news from their mobile phones. The numbers indicate 33 percent of mobile users get news on their handhelds. Even so, only 17 percent of U.S mobile phones are app-loaded smartphocnes with access to the web.
Clyde Bentley used his year as a Donald W. Reynolds Fellow to explore how Americans use their mobile devices and what kinds of things news organizations can do to optimize customer usage.
Through the two-day “Going Mobile” event, Bentley looked at different ways people use mobile devices. He also brought in experts from the industry to talk about about better ways to transmit news to mobile devices.
Bentley worked with Missouri School of Journalism students to create a mobile-based product called “Voices of the Past.” (link) The project allows anybody with a mobile phone to access information on a certain topic through that phone. The “Voices of the Past” project offered in-depth information about dedications on park benches in Columbia, Missouri. A person can dial a number to get information on the history of the people named on the park benches and learn a little bit more about the community – all using a mobile phone.
Below are three-minute video clips from Clyde Bentley’s final presentation to give you a better sense of current mobile phone usage for news and where experts say the industry is going.
Final Presentation:
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