Citizen journalism was around long before the iPhone, but I thought I’d take a look at apps on the iPhone which can be used for citizen journalism. I use all the apps I’ve mentioned, and I may have missed some obvious ones (let me know) or you could think of others to add to the list. I couldn’t figure out how to link to the apps in the Apple store, but I’m sure they are easy enough for you to find.

Twitter
There is no quicker way to get news out of something happening other than Twitter – *by default it is one of the most important developments in citizen journalism.
*By default, because who would have thought a site that asked simply “What are you doing” and limited it to 140 characters would become one of the most powerful news “networks” we have ever seen.
I use Tweetie, but as far as I can tell there is no reason why Tweetdeck or any other of the myriad of iPhone apps for Twitter wouldn’t do as good a job. The power of Twitter has more to do with its real-time news reporting abilities than people’s preference for an app. But if you can think of a reason one Twitter app would be better over another for the purposes of citizen journalism let me know in the comments.

Audioboo
Audioboo records audio as an MP3 and posts it to its own site, but can also autopost to Twitter. Its potential is in its simplicity. I’ve seen it used for impromptu interviews or reports from the scene of something. It’s fast, is good quality and the app is dead simple to use. Audio can be up to three minutes long and you can add titles and include a pic as well as locate where the recording was made. It’s free and you don’t need to sign up to Audioboo to start using it, but I’d recommend it to keep track of your recordings.

Twitpic
Twitpic is one of the many ways to upload pics quickly to Twitter. I like the way the Twitpic app is very simple and it’s been my photo service of choice on Twitter for a while. I actually have it integrated with Tweetie so I can post from there. Others may find the app easier.

12 seconds
The iPhone 3GS officially brings video to the iPhone (though a hack to the 3G also made it possible). Not everything requires a long video, and 12 seconds has a lot of great uses as an easy way to make a quick video update on a situation that requires a bit more than a photo. Like a lot of the other apps I’ve mentioned it is integrated with Twitter and you can set 12 seconds updates to go to Twitter if you choose. 12 seconds videos are also easily shared on other sites, an important feature when it comes to disseminating information.

YouTube
The inbuilt YouTube app on the new 3GS comes with an easy way to upload longer videos to your YouTube account. It’s simple and easy to use once you have set it up.

The top Cit J iPhone App that’s missing
The biggest way in which the iPhone fails as a mobile reporting device is that you are unable to livestream video from it because Apple won’t allow any apps that livestream from your phone – the reason is understood to be related to the deal they have with AT &T in the US as the network could not handle large amounts of livestreaming video. 3G users got around this with a hack, but this is not supported on the 3GS. Qik, which was built as a livestreaming service has an iPhone App, but it doesn’t allow for livestreaming. Hopefully Apple will do something about this soon, as it’s a major drawback in the capabilities of the iPhone as a truly breakthrough Cit J device and gives the upcoming Android a big heads up in this space.