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U.S. online-media expert shows value of multimedia tools for journalists
US Embassy
October 07, 2011

U.S.-based online media expert and lecturer Regina McCombs says journalists can enhance their storytelling online to increase impact and relevance using a vast array of free and affordable multimedia tools.

"Within next year, Zimbabwe is expected to get much faster access, which I think will make a huge difference in how people consume their news. They will be more and more interested in multimedia and, particularly with young people, we know they are very interested in not just reading but also watching things which are more interactive, "said McCombs during a tutorial presentation to 14 young female journalists undergoing a mentoring program facilitated by the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section.

McCombs has received several awards for Best Photojournalism and Pictures of the Year International for multimedia storytelling, as well as an Emmy for her video work. She used revealing statistics from U.S. online media companies to show that mobile internet penetration in Zimbabwe has increased by over 4,000 percent in the last eighteen months, with a staggering 10 percent increase in the last 30 days.

"Zimbabwe leads the top 10 countries of Africa in page views per user with 713 pages on average each month," said McCombs. "Page-view growth since June 2010 recorded is 4964% and unique user growth has been 4483 % while data transfer growth has been 3449% in the same period." Statistics from Facebook in the last month show that 33 percent of Zimbabweans who access the social networking site do it through their mobile phone.

McCombs currently teaches multi-media, social and mobile journalism at the Poynter Institute in Florida. A veteran journalist, McCombs was the senior producer for multimedia at the StarTribune.com in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota for 11 years. She has also taught classes in online journalism and TV news at the University of Minnesota, where she did her post-graduate studies.

During the seminar with the young women journalists, McCombs covered various multi-media creation tools, including Audacity, Soundslides, Photosynth and Gigapan for audio and image production. Participants learned about tools that journalists can use to make stories more visual. The discussion covered trends in the use of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

"These tools can be more complicated but are fun," said Lulu Brenda Harris, a sitting correspondent with the Sunday News in Bulawayo. "I won't get lost in the cyber space," she said.

Another participant said she will be spearheading the social media presence for her organization based in Mutare.

"I have been empowered with tools to tackle social media tools for my organization with confidence," said Tafadzwa Chiutsi, a communications intern with the Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief (SOIR), who said she will start a Facebook site for her organization.

Ms. McCombs's use of Internet helped the mentees to master the new skills and techniques for their journalism profession as well as their own individual benefit.

McCombs, who is on a visiting speaker program facilitated by the U.S. State Department, is in Zimbabwe for the first time. She has spoken regularly around the U.S. about how to find new ways to tell stories on the Web and mobile platforms.

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