A BBC radio journalist and Dutch technology company Technica del Artehave developed a gizmo that could herald the end of "air-conditioned journalism".
The device — a converted Pocket PC that allows journalists to record, edit and send broadcast quality sound via mobile phone or wi-fi — will be rolled out at BBC radio stations across the UK by the end of the year.
Andy Roche, a senior broadcast journalist at BBC Radio Lincolnshire who developed the idea with the station's engineer and assistant editor, told Press Gazette: "What we've done is change completely the way the newsroom operates.
"What we are trying to do is reduce air-conditioned journalism — getting reporters out of the office, covering real stories and not processing press releases.
BBC Radio Lincolnshire teamed up with the to convert a Pocket PC mobile phone
into a professional recording device capable of sending high-quality
sound from anywhere that is covered by a mobile phone signal or a wi-fi
hotspot.
"What we now have is a device the size of a mobile phone on which you can record your interviews, edit the audio and you can then send that audio back to the radio station from anywhere in the world. Six minutes later, the material is ready for broadcast."
According to Charlie Partridge, Radio Lincolnshire's managing editor, as a result of the new device, his journalists now spend less time in the office and more time out in the field, producing an average of 50 per cent more audio than using conventional recording devices.
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