Top 10 iPhone Apps for Journalists

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair,

Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

I do not have an iPhone, but I do have an iPod Touch.  I was chatting with a friend who would marry her iPhone if she could, and we started talking about the apps we love.  Somehow, the discussion got to the apps I use in my job as a journalist.  So below is my top 10 list, in no particular order.

1. The AP Stylebook.  I hate paying for apps more than anything, but there are times when you have to open the wallet, and this is one of those times.  It costs $28.99.  The app provides the stylebook, along with a good search function, an ability to create custom entries, add notes and bookmark the places you visit most frequently.  And if you buy it now, you automatically get the 2010 edition.
2. Dictionary.
3. CoDesign Translator.  This app translates words and simple phrases from English to almost 2 dozen languages, from Afrikaans to Yiddish.
4. Google.
5. Google Maps.   Can be used to search for locations and even used for GPS directions as needed.
6. Town Hall.  For 99 cents, you can track current and past members of Congress, including links to official sites, news, Wikipedia, OpenSecrets, VoteSmart and GovTrack.
7. The Constitution.  You never know when you’re going to need it as a reference.
8. World Leaders.  99 cents gets you information on the chiefs of state and cabinet members of the governments for various countries, based on the  CIA’s World Leaders publication.
9. The Weather Channel. This app covers cities worldwide and gives the current, 36-hour and 10-day forecast.
10. USA Today Auto Pilot. If you are a journalist who travels, this app is a must-have.  You can enter your trips and have them tracked, you can see a map of airport delays across the U.S., a travel directory of airlines and hotels, weather, a destination gallery and a roundup of the newspaper’s  travel-related stories and blog posts.