Journalists often work under tight deadlines and need convenient ways to map out their ideas and stories. Luckily, there are several note-taking apps that can help streamline this process by providing alternatives to bulky folders, enabling alarm reminders for projects and facilitating user-friendly interfaces, among other benefits.
While apps like Evernote and Scrivener have popularized this niche, the market is growing and has produced some hidden gems that are of particular use to journalists.
Here are five note-taking apps that can help professional and freelance journalists alike:
1) Dynalist
Dynalist can help journalists brainstorm the beginning of a story.
On the app, users can sort notes and hyperlink to similar ones. These are presented in nested bullet points ideal for navigation. The process can help bring out patterns in seemingly different ideas, which is particularly useful in the early research stages of a story.
Dynalist also enables users to easily upload images and other files to their notes, and allows for easy syncing between multiple phones and computers.
Dynalist is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux with plans ranging from a free basic plan to a paid premium one with rates starting at $7.99/month.
2) Craft Docs
Sleek in both function and appearance, Craft Docs offers a straightforward user experience design.
On Craft Docs, journalists can create articles and easily share them with their team, making collaboration a cinch. The app allows journalists to create a “space” where they can set tasks for team members and share feedback.
Craft Docs is also known for its use of blocks, which hold not just text, but also files like images, audio and videos. This app might be right for you if you’re looking for something more visually appealing than a typical document page. It’s also a good tool to experiment with idea organization if folders aren’t cutting it.
Craft Docs is available on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. The basic plan is free with premium plans starting at $5/month.
3) Joplin
For journalists who are wary of putting sensitive information on an app, Joplin prioritizes security with its end-to-end encryption on documents (so long as you enable encryption in the settings).
Journalists might be especially fond of the alarm feature, too, which can be applied to a note or to-do list to notify users when a project is due. This makes Joplin a good option for tracking multiple projects.
Joplin overcomes storage limitations that some other note-taking tools may have, as it allows you to save files both locally and to its own Joplin Cloud, which is also end-to-end encrypted. The app syncs with other storage services such as Dropbox and OneDrive, too.
Joplin is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. The app is mostly free with some paid options for Joplin Cloud storage.
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Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash
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Magazine Training International’s mission is to encourage, strengthen, and provide training and resources to Christian magazine publishers as they seek to build the church and reach their societies for Christ.
