5 livestreaming apps for journalists and newsrooms

Livestreaming apps are nothing new, but as smartphone cameras and internet connectivity have increased, as have the possibilities to broadcast straight from mobile.To get more news about moonlive, you can visit official website.

Twitter launched their new livestreaming app Periscope today, and add to that the success of Meerkat, a new app which – for better or worse – has burst onto the tech scene in recent weeks, the prospects for a new, democratised era of broadcasting could be on the horizon.

For journalists and news organisations this means more options to report from news events and interact with the audience in real-time, but the development also increases the chances of citizen journalists playing a greater role in the news.

So here are five livestreaming apps worth checking out, for the casual user all the way up to the seasoned pro.
Periscope

Engadget is already calling Twitter's offering "the best livestreaming app yet" and, as the newest, it does offer a number of improvements over its competitors.After signing in with Twitter and choosing to follow (or not) a selection of contacts and popular accounts, users are given three options.

The 'watch' section supplies a seemingly random selection of livestreams and the choice to view recent saved broadcasts from people you follow. Click on a stream and you can leave comments and 'heart' a stream by tapping the screen.

The 'people' section lets you manage who you are connected with and find popular accounts, but the central broadcast button is the business end.Before shooting you can name the broadcast, choose whether to leave it public or make it private for selected followers, and toggle the tweet share and geolocation options.

The streaming is smooth but limited to portrait only – the desktop view is slickly responsive, adjusting to the browser window.Once the broadcast is over you're given some immediate stats on the number of viewers, hearts, comments and cumulative minutes the broadcast received, plus the option to delete the video from public view.Where Periscope could really stand out for newsrooms, compared to Meerkat, is in the geolocation function.

Subsidiary apps and tools have sprung up around Twitter and Instagram to help people locate images and no doubt the same will happen soon with Periscope, if Twitter don't get there first, letting newsrooms search for streams around news events anywhere in the world.
Meerkat

Meerkat founder Ben Rubin has become the de facto face of the livestreaming revolution, appearing on television, radio and stage to promote his business and the possibilities it brings.

But despite Meerkat's (intial) popular appeal and smart marketing, it has a number of limitations in terms of its actual functionality.

Signing in with Twitter, users can connect to contacts on Twitter and watch current livestreams. There is also the option to schedule a livestream for some point in the next 24 hours or start streaming immediately.

Filming itself is optimised for portrait view, however, and even when a user switches to shoot in landscape the broadcast will still appear as portrait to the viewer, while cropping the edges of the picture.

What's more, Meerkat zooms in on a seemingly arbitrary segment of the video when viewed on desktop, rendering the stream all but unwatchable. Meerkat streams are not saved within the app either, although you are given the option to download a video to camera roll afterwards.