With new YouScoop app, citizens can produce news anywhere

Many YouScoopers have had to rush to Internet cafes to send their scoops after covering a fire or other newsworthy event. Now armed with a new app on their smartphones, they don't have to leave the scene anymore. GMA News has launched the first mobile application for YouScoop, its citizen journalism arm.

 

The YouScoop for Android app, which currently runs on Google’s Android operating system version 2 .2 and up, allows users to register as a “YouScooper” and easily share photos and videos of newsworthy events with GMA News. 

An Apple iOS version is currently in the works. The app's simple uploading functionality is patterned after the popular photo-sharing app Instagram, so Instagrammers can take to it right away.  

Howie Severino, GMA Network’s Vice President for Multimedia Journalism, says the new mobile app extends the reach of YouScoop.

 

“This is a neat tool to empower ordinary citizens to produce news content wherever they are,” he said. "It also recognizes that mobile is the way a growing number of people are accessing the web and conducting their lives."

 

YouScoop for Android, developed by GMA New Media, is now available for download on Google Play. On first use, the app asks the user to register or login in to his or her YouScoop account. 

 

It then allows users to launch their smartphone’s camera within the app for them to take photos or videos. It also lets users select a photo or a video from the phone’s gallery.  

 

The latest verified scoops submitted by YouScoopers may also be viewed on the YouScoop app. Some are already using the app, such as Carl Lozano, who is also an avid Instagrammer. "More than the exposure (your scoops will be attributed to you naturally), this Instagram-inspired app helps level up your photo-snapping and filter-editing prowess to the more purposeful citizen journalism, so don’t just be a witness, be a visual storyteller," he wrote on his blog.

 

Prior to the creation of the mobile app, YouScoopers were able to send photos, videos, and messages to GMA News by uploading their materials on the YouScoop website (www.youscoop.tv) or through text messaging, MMS, email, and the social networking sites Twitter and Facebook.

 

A team of editors select which will get featured on the YouScoop page, but selected content must first be verified by GMA News staff. Newsworthy scoops also get published on GMA News Online or aired on any one of the GMA News and Public Affairs programs. — TJD, GMA News