Work/life relationships

anywhere as well as any time. It also enhances media convergence and multimedia (Drula, 2014).

Basically, the mobile Internet provides various information about the world easily and when combined with the apps, a journalist can report from anywhere in the world. If you want to get work done there are all kinds of available apps to do that. Apps transformed mobile phones into highly productive work and entertainment devices. Apparently, with smartphones, journalism practices are interesting and faster and even the Ofcom 2016 report confirms the pervasiveness of smartphone adoption in the UK:

Smartphones are replacing computers for internet use. Two-thirds (65%) of all adults use a smartphone to go online; up by four percentage points since 2014. Of those who only use devices other than computers to go online, 78% use a smartphone, while 6% of all adults only use a smartphone, and no other device, to go online (up by three percentage points since 2014). Smartphones are the only device used to go online, at home and elsewhere, by a majority of adults (p.8).

The Ofcom report holds firm support as many people use smartphones the way PC were used many years ago. For instance, a Smartphone that can double as (or at least control) a set-top box, or a tablet that can perform many of the functions of a laptop or PC, are both instances of different technologies converging in a single form factor. Given their origins, smartphones clearly support human interaction and intensify the communication flow. In a pervasive environment, phones exist in a social setting where the focus is communication, not computation. Therefore, like personal computers, smartphones perform computations, store information, support other typically computing-related tasks, and do other things aimed at augmenting communication. Considering its functions, smartphones are apparently veritable tools for effective journalism, but the question is: how are journalists adopting new media technologies in newsrooms.

other venues with the requisite video and telephone facilities. This process is suitable for news production and newsgathering. Video conferencing in media as was first used in 1982, by John and Johns to reach hundreds of reporters in thirty cities breaking news and information about the Tylenol product tampering episode, which cost the lives of seven people who ingested the tampered over- the counter medication (Straubhaar & LaRose, 2004).

2.1.6.2 Webcasting

Webcasting is a form of broadcast production that incorporates streaming video and audio on the Internet. It is used to deliver a live press conference or event to the computer screen of the target audience. In the case of media production, a reporter or producer can watch from his or her desktop, laptop, phone amongst others viewing not only video, but text and photos, as well as participate in interviews if they are part of the package. They can even "download the Internet feed or run a tape to get excerpts for use in the on-air coverage," (Straubhaar and LaRose 2004) and might even be the first source of information for a media station about an organization, event or idea.

Hanson (2005) however, states that a major limitation on webcasting is "the need to obtain permission to transmit materials on the web." This might no longer be a limitation today, especially when one considers the proliferation of computer experts as well as Internet hackers which has led to the easy access and posting of information on the net without seeking permission. For instance, during the 2017 Anambra November 18 election, citizen reporters used many social media platforms to report the election situations live both in audio, video and text forms from their points of locations. The mainstreams like NTA and FRCN were observed to be using only phone reports and text messages, especially from their correspondents; with the exception of those with social media accounts comprising mainly the private FMs like Dream Fm, Blaze FM, and Hot FM. Another good example such as the case of last British parliamentary election in the United Kingdom depicts the level of new media development; a situation when on the 29^th April 2010 Prime Minister Gordon Brown while out of an election campaign on TV and was driving home, called Gillian Duffy, a 65 year old lady who had earlier asked him a question about the immigration status of the UK. Gillian Duffy had heckled the prime minister as he was interviewed live on TV in Rochdale. As soon as he got into his car with his aid, he went off and called her ‘a bigotry' forgetting that the car digital camera was on and online;

and that he was still wearing the microphone from the TV studio. Consequently, this news went viral and he instantly saw the news on the TV on his car dashboard (theguardian.com/politics).

Since radio and television stations are unquestionably limited by geographical and channel capacity, reception becomes practically impossible at a certain distance, unlike webcasting that is free of geography and channel capacity issues offering faster speed, enhancing video and audio quality. New

media technologies also enable media stations to reach as many people as possible. For instance, with the use of satellite and cable technologies, broadcast stations like BBC, CNN are able to reach different parts of the world with their signals. Also, most media stations have developed websites through where programmes are made available to their audience who might not be within the sphere of coverage of the particular media house.

2.1.6.3 Podcasting

This is a technology that involves live streaming and sharing of radio programmes over the internet.

Radio was developed in the late 1890s as a point-to-point communication system, but set owners began ‘listening in' gradually. Slowly, the medium developed from a means of talking to each other as a means to talk to the masses, with broadcast organizations such as the BBC emerging in the 1920s.

Brecht(1993) had argued that radio would be the finest possible communication apparatus in public life, and that “ it would be, if it knew how to receive as well as to transmit, how to let the listener speak as well as hear, how to bring him into a relationship not isolating him”(p.15). This equates with what podcasting does today, as one can listen or transmit without any gatekeeper controlling who can and who cannot transmit in this space. The term ‘podcast’ is used as an over-arching term for any audio-content downloaded from the internet either manually from a website or automatically via software applications.

Radio's essential qualities are, however, somehow related to those of podcasting. Radio by its nature is an intimate medium – users rarely listen to it as a collective and often listeners are alone in the car or on the bus, all places that portable media devices now also go. It is probably because radio invades these personal spaces that it is viewed more fondly than other media. We trust it more and often rely on it more. We also engage with the radio more because it a ‘blind' medium (Crisell, 1986). The listener paints the pictures and as such is more active in the process of consumption. These characteristics of intimacy and blindness shared with Podcasts enable Podcasting to reach individuals and groups not normally found on mainstream radio, as the listener may feel that the producer is ‘one of them’, a member of their community, whether defined by geography, ethnicity, culture or social group. One major advantage audio has on the web is that audio files are smaller than video files and so are more easily downloaded from the internet.

However, when a new medium arrives and is named, one often wonders where the title came from.

The term, ‘Podcasting’ origins can be traced back to early 2004 when the Guardian journalist Ben Hammersley forecasted that with MP3 players like Apple’s iPod in many pockets, “audio production software cheap or free, and Weblogging an established part of the internet; all the ingredients was

there for a new boom in amateur radio.” (Hammersley, 2004) notes with the growth of audio content created in an MP3 format user could download and playback on the expanding range of MP3 players.

Whilst Audible was established to provide speech content for these devices, the automation, free access and the radio-like nature of Podcasts contribute to the disruptive nature of the new medium.

Berry (2006) observes that a podcast is an application of technology that was not developed, planned or marketed; and yet its arrival does challenge established practices in a way that is not only unprecedented but also unpredictable. Still, there are other potential implications for medium businesses wanting to join the podcast as “it requires companies to rethink old assumptions…. If old consumers were predictable and stationary, then new consumers are migratory, showing a declining loyalty to networks or even media” (Jenkins, 2004). This is the real challenge for radio when attempting to communicate with the ‘wire-free' generation in the converged 21st century age. It is, therefore, time for media practitioners to rethink not only established practices, but also their notions of what audiences really want.

In essence, Podcasting works like a subscription except it is audio files delivered to the home or office computer rather than printed matter dropping through the door. The audio is (usually) recorded in the MP3 audio format, a generic format used by portable audio devices, such as the Apple iPod. Once on a player, listeners can mix various Podcasts with their own music to create their own playlist of content.

The listener will be in charge of the broadcast schedule, choosing what to listen to, when, in what order and– perhaps most significantly – where. Effectively, there is a move in power from programmers to listeners. Although the producers still maintain control over content the listeners make decisions over scheduling and the listening environment and that is a fundamental change for producers of radio content. Anyone can, therefore, create a Podcast as there is no need for a license or for a radio studio. “To many Podcasters, it is about reclaiming the radio and using the powerful and easy technology many now have, to do what they want” (Twist, 2005). What Podcasting does is to combine portable devices such as iPod devices with online audio content (such as the material already offered by Audible) and RSS feeds as a distribution system. A podcast could thus, be employed in news dissemination in Nigeria broadcast stations if its potentials are properly harnessed.