iReport and A Book For The Undecided

Mark Halperin has been a frequent contributor on CNN over the last few weeks. He is an editor-at-large and senior political analyst at Time magazine and a political analyst for ABC News. He is also the author of The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President. If you're interested in reading his book, the publisher, Harper Collins, has (for a limited time) made the book available online. (Yes, the entire book - no strings attached.) I haven't read the book, but from a glance, it looks like it breaks down each of the many candidates that originally started this marathon race for the Presidency. He includes backgrounds on the candidates, their strengths and weaknesses, and what we might expect from them if elected. To start reading, click here.

MediaWeek recently had an article about a future enhancement to CNN's online presence. They will soon be lanching iReport.com.

Since CNN embraced the citizen journalist movement back in August 2006 with the launch of its iReport initiative, the news organization has received nearly 100,000 news-related photos and videos from viewers, including nearly 10,000 this past January alone. Yet less than 10 percent of those submissions have appeared on CNN.com or the cable channel.

That’s all about to change. Time Warner’s CNN this week will enter YouTube territory with the launch of iReport.com, a new Web site built entirely on user-produced news. And unlike CNN’s own properties—where only iReport submissions that have been handpicked by editors and checked for accuracy ever make it online or on air—the new site will be wide open, allowing users to post whatever content they choose, CNN said.

The new site looks and feels much like YouTube and other video-centric destinations. Wannabe Anderson Coopers can upload videos, photos and audio files through an easy-to-use interface. Visitors to the site can search for specific clips or sift through various news categories, such as politics or weather. Users also can rate and share clips, and even embed them on personal Web sites.

CNN executives acknowledge that iReport.com’s openness is something of a departure for a news organization that prides itself on accuracy and editorial judgment. But iReports have become increasingly popular, and in many cases have even proved beneficial in the reporting of breaking news. Some of the most compelling footage from last April’s shootings on the Virginia Tech campus came from the 420 user-gen video clips CNN received, while last year’s California wildfires yielded more than 11,000 submissions.

So, a user-gen site is the logical next step, said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide. “It starts with the audience,” he said. “Audiences are more and more comfortable participating in news. It’s a natural extension for us.”

Walton acknowledged that he and others at the news net don’t quite know how iReport will evolve once users warm up to the site. But CNN officials are banking on the Web’s community aspects to boost the venture, as well as to determine which content belongs and which doesn’t.

“The community will decide what the news is,” said Susan Grant, executive vp of CNN News Services. “We are not going to discourage or encourage anything…iReport will be completely unvetted.” (CNN will, however, monitor the site for objectionable content.)

Grant explained that iReport content will be clearly labeled as not necessarily reflecting the editorial views of CNN. “We’ll be telling people in lots of different ways that it’s a post-moderated site,” she said.

To encourage participation, the network has begun reaching out to frequent iReport contributors such as Rick Ebrecht, a Savannah, Ga., resident whose clips of violent storms and a recent Space Shuttle launch ran on CNN.

Regulars like Ebrecht—who estimates that he’s submitted seven or eight photos to CNN, with roughly five or six making the cut—will be able use iReport.com to establish profiles and possibly develop a following among other users. “It’s great that people can submit whatever they want,” he said. “It engages them.”

Still, Ebrecht wondered about the site’s lack of policing. “The first thing that came to mind is ethics and credibility,” he said. “People have to not take things at face value. People [on the site] will have to keep an eye on each other.”

I don't have a crystal ball, but does anyone else see an iReport debate in CNN's future?

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