CNN iReport Marks an Anniversary
This month marks the second anniversary of CNN iReport. This initiative reflects the Cable News Network’s commitment to crowdsourcing and citizen journalism.
Many in the news industry are looking at crowdsourcing, citizen journalism and other forms of user-generated content as a way to combat declining newspaper circulations and shrinking network news audiences.
Launching iReport involved risk. As with any social media initiative, management faced some difficult questions. Would people embrace it and in a meaningful way? How would CNN handle negative comments? Could you ensure accuracy? Would it compromise the brand and potentially call CNN’s integrity into question? Would it lessen the prestige of its hired staff of professional journalists?
Viewer submissions from major events like the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 were instrumental in helping make the decision. CNN’s management gave its approval, and iReports went live on August 2, 2006.
From all accounts it worked. People around the world contribute videos and pictures to supplement existing stories that CNN is covering or submitting breaking news that they are witnessing. It helps CNN stretch a limited news budget, obtain footage of stories that would be difficult to obtain itself, cover more stories in more depth and more personally and engage with its viewers more directly.
After the initial success of iReports, CNN launched an iReport.com beta version in February of this year. (And just last week, iReports announced it was no longer in beta.) The site allows users to submit photos, videos and comments and have them appear on the site. The submissions are sometimes very serious and sometimes just entertaining or novel. CNN producers review these submissions and select reports for possible airing on the CNN television networks, CNN.com and other CNN platforms. The site also allows iReporters to contact each other.
CNN said it did not have targeted projections, but they are pleased with some of the results so far:
• Traffic is up 25 percent in June and double from the month before.
• More than 75,000 individuals to date have registered as citizen journalists.
• At launch they had 13 iReports; right before they launched iReport.com, they were receiving around 10,000 a month.
The Atlanta Connection
For those who regularly follow my blog, I have a strong interest in social media as well as Atlanta based companies that are showcasing social media. CNN iReport meets both criteria. In fact, Lila King, senior producer for user participation at CNN.com strongly believes that iReport has become so successful because its CNN headquarters are in Atlanta. The proximity adds credibility and allows for more collaboration.
While other local companies are still only considering social media, CNN’s strategy includes a blog, the use of Twitter and a presence on Second Life to engage its viewers and facilitate discussion. King points with pride to the feedback from its Black in America series. As of August 1, the series received 1527 submissions, and 73 were vetted for use on CNN’s other platforms.
Viewers have posted about their own experiences, while some commented specifically on CNN’s coverage. CNN doesn’t censor contributions and believes the advantages of an open discussion outweigh any negative comments. There are however community guidelines that address inappropriate (hateful and obscene) material.
For CNN, iReport is clearly a business strategy to create and extend content and engage viewers. But to King it is much more. She points to citizen journalists who literally risked their lives posting videos about protests in Myanmar. “I believe tools like iReport helps the grassroots spirit of the Internet.”
The success of iReport has not gone unnoticed. Writing about alternative forms of journalism, Project for Excellence in Journalism reported that “CNN’s iReport is the most conspicuous example of this trend.” Other networks have similar initiaitves, including ABC’s i-Caught, Fox’s uReport, and MSNBC’s FirstPerson.
While iRerport’s criteria is pretty broad, it is still much harder to make the leap to other CNN properties. On average, 10 percent of 800 – 1200 iReports are vetted each day and make it to another CNN platform. In addition to the community guidelines, here are some other things to consider:
- Making the cut to another CNN platform requires a full vetting of its authencity.
- Submissions need to be in context of stories that CNN is running at the time.
- The most successful submissions contain a compelling human interest angle.
- The most recent submissions often have a better chance of getting aired.
With more citizen journalist-produced content making its way to news websites, it makes me wonder how crowdsourcing will impact the PR profession. Will it give us more opportunities to gain exposure or make it harder to stand out in the crowd? Will we have to rethink how we “pitch” a story? Will our expertise be as valued when user generated content is gaining more currency? Can or should PR “orchestrate” the contributions of citizen journalists?
Crowdsourcing and citizen journalism are still in their early stages of adoption. It is still unclear if ithey will increase interest in broadcast and print journalism. What is clear to me, however, they are not only changing the face of journalism; they are also impacting the way PR professionals do their job.
Let me get back to you.
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