Multimedia Tools

Below is a list of multimedia tools that I make available to my students in Multimedia Journalism. After class ends for the semester, many students ask me to send them this list for work they’re doing in internships or jobs. So, to make things easier, I’m providing that list here on my website. Bolded tools are ones past students and I have found success with in. Plan to register with an email address for almost all of them. If one of these tools costs money, then you’ll see a ($) next to the item.

I’ll continue to add more tools to this list, as I learn about them. If you’re reading this now and know of some that aren’t listed, please send me an email with tools I should include here. I’ll do my best to keep this updated, in case some of the items on the list go dark. And some of the items on the list will go dark.

Creating Multimedia

  • Storify — An interesting reporting tool that curates news from social media outlets. (An example of how to incorporate social media elements in your reporting from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/metro/facebook-story-mothers-joy-familys-sorrow.html. The Post didn’t use Storify, but you could to achieve the same end.)
  • ThingLink — A tool that makes images interactive.
  • Audacity — Audio editor
  • Soundslides — Audio slideshows ($)
  • Zeega — A tool to create an interactive timeline, of sorts
  • Klynt — A tool for editing and publishing visual stories ($)
  • Cowbird — A tool, quite simply, to tell stories
  • pearltrees — A tool to collect, organize and share the stuff you like
  • Magisto — A video tool that takes your videos and turns them into movies
  • Atavist — A tool that allows users to compile various elements — text, video, audio, animation — in an in-depth enterprise story
  • Videolicious — A tool that will allow you to make videos in seconds
  • SoundCiteJS — A tool that will embed inline audio players
  • Visme — A tool that allows you to create many types of online visual content

Timelines

Maps

Graphics | Data

Social

  • Buffer — A tool for social media scheduling and engagement information.
  • Title Maker — A tool that will generate “creative” titles to posts/for tweets.
  • The Latest — A tool that shows you what people are linking to (not trending topics).
  • Klout
  • If This Then That — A tool featuring up-to-date information you want to track.
  • Tweriod — A tool that gives you the best times to tweet based on your followers.
  • bitly

Presenting Documents

Tools for Going Live

Converting Difficult Files

Polls

General Reporting

Mobile Apps

Mobile Video Apps

Mobile Audio Apps

Mobile Photography Apps

Moving Mobile Files