“To use a smartphone microphone or not to use a smartphone microphone, that is the question”: A Field Test Proposal for Emerging Media Platforms

In mid April, I had an idea for a digital article that I’ve wanted to write relating to citizens of the African Diaspora (countries that have descent-ion from African people) making their decisions to leave their families to work on a cruise ship. Once I scheduled my interviews, I knew I wasn’t sure if I would be able to talk to them in a quite room. To relieve that possibility, I purchased the Motiv MV88 iOS digital stero condenser microphone from Amazon to get quality sound from my subjects and to make sure that I quote them accurately.

I think buying the microphone was a great investment into my journalism career because it will help me produce in several different forms including digital articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos.

Sadly, a large number of journalists use only the built-in microphone device on their smartphones for gathering soundbites which could lead to misquoting a source, causing liability for the journalist and the company that published the error.

For my submission of the final project for my Emerging Media Platforms class, I will be conducting a field test to see if the quality of the MV88 microphone gives better quality sound compared to the factory microphone and recording devices inside my Apple iPhone version 8 smartphone. The hypothesis of this experiment: does the smartphone microphone work better, or worse, in loud or public areas.

I will conduct a survey for consumers to take which will have samples of both the iPhone and the MV88 recording the same song. The first comparison will be in a quite, indoor space with both devices. The second comparison will be on a noise platform at the 47th Street/ Rockefeller Center subway station. The third comparison will be outside in the center of  Times Square in New York City. All samples will be taken between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Wish me luck!