Wireless Reporter App - Free Press Unlimited Original Proposal¶

PROBLEM ANALYSIS¶

The Wireless Reporting Application project is a large scale training project for countries in transition in the Arab World with the aim to increase cooperation between civic reporters from the social media generation and the world of the traditional media.
The project uses a mixture of targeted training semesters plus mentored distant learning with mobile phone technology as a central platform for training, reporting and sharing information.

The general objective of the project is to bridge the gap and distrust between the “new digital media” generation and the “old school” media generation by creating better cooperation, increase the downward accountability of media and improve the delivery of timely, accurate and relevant information to the general public.

Specific objectives are:

• to increase (digital) security of civic reporters through awareness raising and training modules
• to improve the quality of reporting through instruction modules on a mobile phone application
• to connect traditional journalists to the new social media network and use its potential for reporting
• to distribute reported content of the social media network to traditional media audiences
• to increase participation of the general public in relevant transition themes
• In order to do this the mobile application needs to be built. This document is a statement of work for the development of this application.

OBJECTIVES¶

1. Building and maintaining a mobile phone application (WRApp) that is available in Google Play and via *.apk for usage by the community of media producers, bloggers, human rights defenders and aspiring journalists

1. Building and maintaining a crowd sourced evaluation and mentoring web application to be used for evaluation of contributions and assignments during the project and afterwards. The site will also include the ability to aggregate and display all public submissions for browsing and review.

1. Produce curriculum on digital security and practical video and radio journalism and rework this and curriculum on basic journalism, rights and obligations of journalists and practical photojournalism (produced by ICFJ) into lessons in the WRApp.

RESULTS¶

1.1 Curriculum
Series of lessons with the following structure: 1. Problem statement 2. Background 3. Solution 4. When to use / not to use 5. Test (quiz and/or assignment)

• MUST Serve pre-produced text, images, slideshow, video, photo and/or audio in stages 1. up to 4.
• MUST At stage 5. serve interactive graphical element, multiple choice question list, pinch and zoom reframing (to demonstrate better composition)
• MUST If one or more question(s) wasn't answered correctly, show explanation and hyperlink to part 3.
• MUST If the results of the test is not >= 80% then redo test until 80% score
• MUST Do assignment under 5. with default media capture app
• MUST Advance to next lesson after 1. successful (>=80%) completion of the quiz and/or 2. submission of assignment to the platform

1.2. Video Production

• MUST Provide four story templates
• MUST Overlay rule of thirds
• MUST Overlay types of shots (wide, medium, close-up, detail shot, establishing shot)
• MUST Capture video with default app
• SHOULD Capture video with 3rd party app
• MUST Assemble media based on template
• MUST Selection of story elements for the story template from all captured video for this story (eg. pick ten out of thirty shots)
• MUST Trim media (non destructive)
• MUST Add meta data (location, author, story type, date, time, story subject)
• MUST Compress video
• MUST Upload produced video to video hosting services
• MUST support upload to YouTube
• MUST support upload to a self-hostable upload script (videobin, SFTP)
• SHOULD SUPPORT upload to secondary service like Facebook, Vimeo, Blip
• MUST notify evaluation platform of new upload and submit feedback request
• SHOULD Support split video
• SHOULD Add titles
• SHOULD Produce with 3rd party apps
• SHOULD Save unused media
• SHOULD Name each piece of captured media uniquely based on shot type, story type, date, time, author, and rename function
• SHOULD Drag and drop media into template
• SHOULD Collect subject contact info
• MAY Notify subject upon upload to 3rd party platform
• MAY Upload to other 3rd party platform
• MUST Automated audio crossfades between pieces of video
• MAY Create custom template
• MAY Place B-Roll over existing video
• MAY Enable L-cuts

1.3. Photo Production

• MUST Provide four story templates
• MUST Overlay rule of thirds
• MUST Overlay types of shots (wide, medium, close-up, detail shot, establishing shot)
• MUST Capture image with default app
• MUST Assemble media based on template
• MUST Selection of story elements for the story template from all captured video for this story (eg. pick ten out of thirty shots)
• MUST Add meta data (location, author, story type, date, time, story subject)
• MUST notify evaluation platform of new upload and submit feedback request
• MUST Upload to at least one prominent photo hosting service
• MUST support upload to a self-hostable upload script (gallery, SFTP)
• SHOULD Produce with 3rd party apps
• SHOULD Save unused media
• SHOULD Name each piece of captured media uniquely based on shot type, story type, date, time, author, and rename function
• SHOULD Drag and drop media into template
• SHOULD Collect subject contact info
• MAY Notify subject upon upload to 3rd party platform
• MAY Upload to other 3rd party platform
• MUST Crop
• MUST Rotate
• SHOULD Change brightness and contrast
• SHOULD Add audio under a series of photos

1.4. Audio Production

• MUST Provide four story templates
• MUST Capture audio with default app
• SHOULD Capture audio with 3rd party app
• MUST Assemble media based on template
• MUST Selection of story elements for the story template from all captured video for this story (eg. pick ten out of thirty shots)
• MUST Add meta data (location, author, story type, date, time, story subject)
• MUST notify evaluation platform of new upload and submit feedback request
• MUST support upload to a self-hostable upload script (SFTP)
• MUST Upload to soundcloud and YouTube
• SHOULD SUPPORT upload to secondary service like Facebook, Vimeo, Blip
• SHOULD Upload to other 3rd party platform
• SHOULD Split
• SHOULD Save unused media
• SHOULD Name each piece of captured media uniquely based on shot type, story type, date, time, author, and rename function
• SHOULD Drag and drop media into template
• SHOULD Collect subject contact info
• MAY Notify subject upon upload to 3rd party platform
• MUST Audio compression
• SHOULD Multi track audio editing
• MUST Trim media (non destructive)

2.1 Mentoring and Evaluation platform

• MUST Send assignment to online platform for evaluation & response
• MAY Cross post assignment to Facebook
• MUST Receive response on assignment via e-mail
• SHOULD Receive response in app and get notification on phone
• MUST provide evaluation website with reaction tool for evaluation
• SHOULD show the origin of the content for review per country
• SHOULD allow for different kind of user; ADMIN TRAINER >(evaluate everyone), COUNTRY TRAINER (evaluate country contributions), REGULAR USER (add comments and give feedback)
• MUST allow users of the WRApp review other users via the online platform; MUST support aggregate view for browsing, searching, playback of all public submissions
• MUST be available through public website in standard browser
• SHOULD be available in mobile format from app

INDICATORS¶

1.1. General
Users should be reminded to work securely and professionally while reporting (reminder, widget, checklist?)
A checklist users have to tick off before they publish photos, video or audio to social media when they are in their 'reporters profile'

Users should be able to look stuff up for quick reference (like a FAQ, directing to specific lessons/video’s in the course?)
When starting the application users should be able to go to different items: 1. Course, 2. Assignments & Collaboration (better name needed), 3. FAQ, 5. Opportunities and news (IJNet rss feed?), 6. Links, 7. Settings
FAQ should be treating seperate issues and quick answers.

Native English and Arabic speakers should be supported by the initial content and user interface.
User interface should be available in English and Arabic, just as all the course content

1.2. Coursework
Users can follow a linear course on three subsequent subjects (digital security, journalism and mobile reporting (audio, photo, video))
The course is offered in three parts. First the course needs to be completed fully (campaign mode) before the several parts can be browsed .

The course contains video’s, audio and quiz elements
The individual lessons consist of short texts, short video's, audio and interactive elements. Series of lessons with the following structure: 1. Problem statement 2. Background 3. Solution 4. When to use / not to use 5. Test (quiz and/or assignment).
It’s clear for users what they learn in the specific lesson
At the start of every course it's clearly defined what the course objectives are and what the user is able to do after the course is completed
Lessons are concluded with an assignment (can be in app, or a small production, or installation of another app, etc)
There should an option for quizzes, import and subsequent upload to the evaluation platform and assignment that look like: "install this app". So the WRApp should be able to check whether the other app has been installed successfully.
Users should be able to pick up their lesson from where they left it previously, but also have the possibility to go back (and forward)
When a user exits from the WRApp (hard (battery failure, bug, etc) or soft (home button)) she or he should be able to pick up the lesson where he left off when she or he returns. A user should always be able to go back to review what was learned and also have the possibility then to return where she/he left off.
Users should during all times have a clear idea how far they are in their lessons and in their module
There should be an 'advance bar' to see how far in the lesson the user is.
The practical lessons should have hotlinks to other applications
It should be possible to start other applications from the WRApp (such as a audio recorder app or a camera app). There should be an opportunity to return from the WRApp from these applications
Users can go to a website to do the lessons and submit their assignments
Users who do not have (access to) an android phone should be able to access the material via a website. The course content which refers to other actions concerning other Android applications should have animations of the action on the Android phone. Except from this the site should give access to the same content as the WRApp itself.
Feedback / Grading
Users can submit assignments/productions to a platform where its published and reviewed
Productions or assignments can be submitted to the evaluation platform for evaluation by a coach/trainer and by other members of the community. On the platform people should be given an automated ID which people can alter if needed (name + country). Messages and notifications will be directly send to the application and/or e-mailaddress.
The platform should be accessible from inside the WRApp as well. People should have the opportunity to 1. review their own work and comments 2. review the works of others per country or by other category
Users get in-application reactions to their published assignment by a trainer
The message of the trainer should pop-up in the application as well as a notification in the upper bar, after which people can open the message from pulling down the top bar.

1.3 Sync / Updating
The WRApp should be easily updateable with new links and new content
The CMS which is used to administer the App should be workable for a person who doesn't know code.
Users should be able to download the WRApp with videos all at once
Users should be able to download the WRApp with videos on demand
When downloading and installing the WRApp there should be two options: download the full version or download the version in which (larger) content/media is accessed on the go.
Partner organizations should be able to send notifications about upcoming trainings to WRApp users.
The notifications should not only be from IJnet but could be from various RSS feeds, which can be altered under 'Settings'. Standard, all feeds are 'ON'.

1.4 Distribution / Access
Users should be able to share the WRApp via tethering (peer to peer dissemination of app)
People should be able to share their WRApp with other user by publishing it to other Android users via Wifi.
Users on non-Android smartphones can also use the WRApp
The website version should have a specific mobile version enabling users who have a non-android smartphones to use the WRApp. I would propose using the same content as the website, if the user stats show that many users are in Windows Mobile or iOS we could consider making a version for these phones as well.

RELEVANCE¶

Today there is a mobile phone in practically every household in the world. The estimate is that there are 4 billion mobile phones in the world. This makes mobile telephony bigger than TV (1.6 billion), computers (1.7 billion) or FM radio (3.9 billion). An increasing number of these phones are smart phones (globally 15% of all phones sold are smart phones, an average of 5,1% of all phones in Africa are smart phones). Smart phones enable people to connect to the Internet, take photos and send them, record audio and edit it; sometimes they even produce video recordings. This is an enormous potential for citizen reporting because this enables everyone with a smart phone to make a report and send it.

This means that at every incident, at every corner, at every demonstration, at every celebration, there is a potential reporter present provided with a tool that could be used for adequate reporting and we see examples of this already happening in the Arab World. If this information potential would find its way to a greater public, it would drastically improve coverage of daily news and give way to new perspectives. This would pose a great new source for professional journalists and media outlets, if they only would know how it worked and the quality of the contributions could be enhanced.

Currently in the Arab World the internet is the main backbone of uncensored information for people interested in the transition in the Arab World. But internet penetration is low in rural and provincial areas and the internet is carefully censored in most cases in the Arab World. But mobile networks do exist and are proliferated to the most remote areas.The audience penetration of the internet reaches not more than 20% or less of the population in Arab countries and is focused in the capitals.

The exposure to independent and uncensored information would much better if the mobile telephone could be used for this purpose and especially if also the traditional electronic and print media would be able to use the content gathered in remote areas through civic reporters, human rights defenders and social media activists. Therefore a network is needed where representatives form the traditional media and the new media generation can communicate, exchange and engage. That is the reason why this project chooses for the mobile platform as the main communication, training and evaluation platform.

Not all people know how to use smart phones for reporting, and most civil reporters know very little about journalism and reporting. In fragile and repressive environments this can pose great risks for the reporters. The government can track the internet-traffic. Reporters aren’t aware of the risks of crisis reporting. Professional journalists in developing countries tend to have little exposure to smart phones whereas smart phones could mean a real breakthrough for small media outlets because every reporter can become a multimedia reporter, if he or she knows how it works.

The Wireless Reporting Application, WRApp in short, is there to solve these problems. It will train professional and civil reporters in mobile reporting and enable them to tell and share the story, wherever they are. It wil provide tools to upload and download information securely to the internet backbone of media and end users. It will build a network of engagement between traditional and new media.

ACTIVITIES¶

1. Building and maintaining a mobile phone application (WRApp) that is available in Google Play and via *.apk for usage by the community of media producers, bloggers, human rights defenders and aspiring journalists
2. Building and maintaining a crowd sourced evaluation and mentoring website to be used for evaluation of contributions and assignments during the project and afterwards
3. Produce curriculum on digital security and practical video and radio journalism and rework this and curriculum on basic journalism, rights and obligations of journalists and practical photojournalism (produced by ICFJ) into lessons in the WRApp.

M&E SYSTEM¶

While we thinking investment in development of properly open-sourced technologies has inherent value, we also understand the need to assess the impact that specifically applied funding has. Our team is experienced in implementing programs measured using different approaches to metrics. This includes gathering metrics on downloads and active use (with
user consent), surveying users for feedback on increased effectiveness or success rate of their required functionality, and more through Monitoring & Evaluation programs tracking outputs and outcomes. Regardless of what a specific funder or project employs, we are constantly accessing the impact of our work across the entire scope of the Guardian Project to ensure our efforts are still valuable and necessary, and that we aren’t just existing for our own sake.

Next to that all the work as defined above is devided over different code sprints. After every code sprint there is a three week period in which the work will be evaluated in cooperation with Free Press Unlimited.

RISKS & CONSTRAINTS¶

Low
Problem: The application needs to be developed in the light of two different project proposals for two different funders. Merging these two project (Murrow and WRApp) might lead to confusion amongst implementers and donors.
Counter measure: In this document the work is clearly stated. Next to that the aim of the objectives and the goals of the partnering organization are very similar. The original project proposal documents are know by the participating organization so both the original ideas and the merged concept are clear.

Medium
Problem: Some feature might not be feasible at all or within the budget
Counter measure: Features have been prioritized in this document, creating a clear overview of the minimum requirements.