thoughts? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Poynter Institute <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mar 28, 2008 6:06 AM Subject: Web Tips - Behind CNN's New Citizen Media Site To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Poynter online Web Tips Posted, Feb. 28, 2008 Updated, Feb. 28, 2008 Behind CNN's New Citizen Media Site A YouTube for news By Jonathan Dube ( http://www.poynter.org/profile/profile.asp?user=1718) (more by author ( http://www.poynter.org/search/results_article.asp?cdl_userID=1718&btn_submit=true) ) CyberJournalist.net Publisher ONA President Note: After seven wonderful years of Web Tips columns, we're going to broaden our focus from Web-based reporting tools to the variety of ways journalists are using the Web. We hope you'll stick with us for Web Tips 2.0. Most news organizations are looking for ways to tap their audiences for photos, videos and eyewitness reports. But many still struggle with how to embrace user-generated content while still ensuring accuracy and quality. After a year-and-a-half of experience soliciting material from its audiences, CNN is embarking on a new approach worth observing. Earlier this month, CNN launched a new site dedicated to user-generated content that is unmoderated -- basically, a news version of YouTube. The site, currently in "beta" or test mode, can be viewed at iReport.com (http://beta.ireport.com/) . Since August 2006, CNN has been featuring audience submitted photos and video on CNN and CNN.com under the "iReport" brand -- but only material carefully vetted by its journalists. The network has received nearly 100,000 news-related photos and videos from viewers, but only published or aired about 10 per cent. Now, all of those submissions, and everything submitted going forward, can be viewed at iReport.com . In fact, the site explicitly states, "CNN makes no guarantees about the content or the coverage on iReport.com" -- quite a bold statement from a reputable news organization, not to mention one that brands itself as the "Most Trusted Name in News." On the new site, the editors explain the notion: What if we turned this site over to you? What if we allowed people to post raw video and tell stories you'd never see on CNN? What if it had politically-incorrect speech? What if it didn't matter if the stories were balanced? What if, instead of us confirming every nuance, we trusted you to determine what was and what wasn't accurate? What if we created a site where the community -- not CNN -- became the "Most Trusted Name in News?" And so, we developed iReport.com. Don't kid yourselves. This content is not pre-vetted or pre-read by CNN. This is your platform. In some journalisitic circles, this is considered disruptive, even controversial! But we know the news universe is changing. We know that even here, at CNN, we can't be everywhere, all the time following all the stories you care about. So, we give you iReport.com. You will program it, you will police it; you will decide what's important, what's interesting, what's news. CNN will be doing limited post-moderation: Users can "flag" items they feel violate the community guidelines (http://beta.ireport.com/home/guidelines.jspa) and iReport.com moderators will review them and decide whether to put those items behind a warning wall or take them down altogether. CNN also is providing some basic journalism tips ( http://beta.ireport.com/home/community/assignment) as part of the iReport site. Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services, answered some questions about the new site via e-mail: 'If I could bend the ear of other news organizations venturing into this arena, I would tell them what we tell ourselves every day at CNN: Strive to be open and transparent -- with your audience and your employees.' - Susan Grant Why did CNN.com decide to launch iReport.com as a separate site from CNN.com? It is important to draw a clear distinction between the trusted news and information brand of CNN.com and an unvetted, user-generated community site like iReport.com. It's much easier for the consumer to distinguish the difference in the content if the sites themselves are separate. Do you expect the launch of iReport.com to change the way you use user-generated content on CNN and CNN.com? Not at all. CNN will continue to use iReports on-air and on CNN.com if and only if they have been vetted. The launch of iReport.com is the natural progression for CNN's iReport initiative. It makes all user-generated material submitted to CNN available for the public to see. Previously, only a select number of iReports were available for viewing after being vetted by CNN's editorial staff. This user-generated content site, at its core, will be driven by the users; therefore, all of the content the iReport.com community creates will be available online at iReport.com . Users may still visit www.cnn.com/iReport to view vetted submissions that have appeared on CNN air and CNN.com; and iReport.com also will label those contributions with an "on CNN" tag to indicate that the submission appeared on a CNN network or CNN.com. How does moderation work for CNN and CNN.com? What is the process and how many people are involved? Before an iReport is used on-air or on CNN.com, the content undergoes the same extensive vetting process as all of CNN's reporting does. Our own journalists, who are well trained at verifying the authenticity of news reports and events, follow steps to verify the events captured in iReports that are used on CNN and on CNN.com. There is no set number of people involved in the process, as each CNN reporter, producer and show has the ability to select an iReport submission appropriate to use in their reporting. How will iReport differ from what some of your compeitiors are doing, i.e. Fox News Channel's uReport, MSNBC's FirstPerson, ABC News' i-Caught? iReport.com wasn't developed to compete with broadcast and cable news outlets; rather it is the natural progression of our iReport initiative that has been in operation since August 2006. Individual iReport.com contributors may gain additional recognition for their content by having that material, once vetted and approved for use, appear on a CNN television network or CNN.com, just as iReporters do today. iReport.com is focused on what people consider news, and we expect the site to be a destination for Internet users to inform and engage, rather than simply be entertained. Further, the concept of "community" on many news sites is more about reactions to news reported by the mainstream media. iReport.com not only invites users to submit their own news stories, but also fosters dialogue -- empowering the community to drive the news, not just follow it. Since first launching iReports on CNN and CNN.com, what lessons have you learned? With the constantly evolving media landscape, consumers increasingly expect to take a more active role in the discussion of events -- local and global. While CNN has many networks and platforms dedicated to traditional reporting, we also wanted to offer our audiences the opportunity to participate in their own way -- in the submission and discussion of events. CNN decided to expand its user-generated content initiatives not only because of the incredible success of our existing iReport program, but also the high level of user-participation on CNN.com via our "Sound Off" feature, blog commenting and the incredibly active online discussions during presidential debates. CNN is in a unique position to provide the public with the tools and resources to share, view, discuss and form communities about news that is important to them. What advice do you have for other organizations, such as newspapers and smaller broadcasters, who want to start soliciting and publishing user-generated content? I'm not sure how much advice we have for others -- we're still learning so much ourselves! But if I could bend the ear of other news organizations venturing into this arena, I would tell them what we tell ourselves every day at CNN: Strive to be open and transparent -- with your audience and your employees. Web Tips question for you : How is your news organization using and managing user-generated content? What tips can you share? ( http://www.poynter.org/article_feedback/article_feedback_add.asp?id=138326) (http://www.cyberjournalist.net) ↑ Grab this Headline Animator ( http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/headlineanimator/install?id=27315&w=2) http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=138326 ( http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=138326) Copyright (c) 1995-2008 The Poynter Institute _uacct = "UA-2072784-1"; urchinTracker(); _userv=2; You have received this newsletter because our records indicate you selected it. To stop delivery, go to the Newsletters page ( http://www.poynter.org/profile/subscribe.asp) on Poynter Online. That link should take you directly to the Newsletters page. If not, you can copy the following link into your browser: http://www.poynter.org/profile/subscribe.asp. You can also change your newsletter selections from your Personal Page by scrolling down to My Newsletters and click on Edit. -- http://geekentertainment.tv [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]