Media Production | News

Arizona State Journalists Go Mobile

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 07/28/14

The LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter from Dejero

Arizona State University journalists will be able to take their reporting on the road with the acquisition of a mobile video transmitter. Students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication will be using a LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter from Dejero, a professional grade device that has a briefcase design, fits into a backpack and transmits high-quality video without the need for satellite or microwave trucks. The new purchase was made possible by a grant that will also cover the costs of a broadcast server, software and accessories.

The goal is to enable students to report "more easily" from rural and remote areas. The broadcasts they produce could be used by professional media outlets around the state, as well as Cronkite NewsWatch, the school's own TV newscast that goes out on Arizona PBS.

"The Access Across Arizona initiative will greatly enhance and expand the ability of our students to cover areas of Arizona that are too often underrepresented by the media," said Mark Lodato, Cronkite School assistant dean and news director.

Lodato said students will be able to use the transmitter to do live coverage from anywhere in Arizona, providing city dwellers with a fuller understanding of the state's smaller communities.

Funding came from Women & Philanthropy, a program of the ASU Foundation for A New American University, a private, non-profit organization that raises money for the university.

In 2013, Women & Philanthropy supported the school's student investigation into the struggles faced by women veterans as they returned home from overseas deployments. Previously, the group funded a news van that shares the work of the Cronkite School with high schoolers.