How to Use Evernote – and 5 Ways It Can Help Journalists

header_evernote_IIEvernote is one of the many note-taking apps out there to help people be productive and keep organized. It’s a free app that is available on Mac and PC and available in mobile form. We’ve talked about Evernote before, but I thought an updated post with a few more videos was needed. I think Evernote is a great tool for journalists and here are 5 reasons why:

1. It’s a great way to archive interviews – I never had a good system for saving interview notes once I was done using them. I’d staple them together and stick then in a file cabinet. While that way does work, it doesn’t lend itself well to digging something up if you want to view it at a later date. Journalists can use Evernote to take snapshots of their handwritten notes (or log their typed ones) and save them with relevant metadata ranging from the subject or topic being covered to the source itself through searchable text and tags.

2. Photos can be saved within notes – Photos can be saved directly into notes for reference. If a journalist has a mobile device, they can be on location and save photos directly to their notes on scene. For writers, taking photos on assignment and saving them within a note with notes can be very useful later to describe people or scenes or just job your memory.

3. Audio can be saved within notes – Photos aren’t the only thing that can be saved directly into a note, audio can as well. Evernote allows users to embed audio files directly into the note they have called up meaning notes, photos and audio can all be saved within one note giving journalists a great way to keep their information organized.

4. Notes can be shared – If you are working collaboratively with someone else or a team, you can share your notes with them. If you want to collaborate on a specific note, you will need to upgrade to a premium Evernote account.

5. Your data is accessible anywhere – As long as you have a smartphone, you can access all your notes wherever you are. While I prefer to log notes and organize notes on my laptop within Evernote, I find myself accessing my Evernote app on my phone daily to pull up a note and reference some information saved within.

Not familiar with Evernote? Here are some videos to get you acquainted. How do you use Evernote? We’d love to hear in the comments below.

Evernote 5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
by EvernoteVideos

Tutorial of Evernote 5 for the Mac
by EvernoteVideos

How to Use the Evernote Android Widget
by EvernoteVideos

Evernote tutorial: Creating a multimedia note
by Lynda.com

How I organise Evernote
by Paul Boag

Evernote for Running a Magazine: UPPERCASE
by EvernoteVideos

Aaron Manfull

Aaron is in his 26th year of advising student media. He is currently the Director of Student Media at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Missouri. He is the Journalism Education Association Digital Media Chair and co-Director of Media Now. He is the 2023 JEA Teacher Inspiration Award Winner and is a former Dow Jones News Fund National Journalism Teacher of the Year. He is one of the authors of the textbook "Student Journalism and Media Literacy." You can find him on X and Instagram @manfull. He's a proud father. A transplanted Iowan. And an avid Hawkeye Fan.

Aaron Manfull has 862 posts and counting. See all posts by Aaron Manfull

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