CNN Debuting iReport.com for Citizen Newsgathering

NEW YORK — CNN on Wednesday is launching iReport.com, an online community built around news-related photos, audio and video submitted by the public.

The Web site is the first CNN has built from scratch since CNN.com in 1995. The test launch marks a major expansion of the network's fast-growing iReport project, which since August 2006 has significantly influenced the television news business.

The nearly 100,000 iReport submissions to date have included widely viewed cell phone video from the Virginia Tech shootings, images of the Minneapolis bridge collapse and material from last year's California wildfires and Myanmar protests.

Unlike CNN's current effort, in which editors screen material before putting a selection on TV or CNN.com, the new site will have a wide-open environment akin to YouTube and social networking sites.

"We're letting it live and breathe on its own so everybody can see all the great stuff people are sending in," said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services.

The new site builds on the phenomenon of citizen journalism, which is booming thanks to the Internet and technology such as cell phone cameras and wireless handheld devices.

"Some of these folks are very passionate about covering news or particular topics or wanting to interact with us or each other," Grant said.

People submit more than 10,000 iReport items to CNN each month, but only about 10 percent is approved for use online or on the air, spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said, largely because CNN has limited resources to review the material.

Following Wednesday afternoon's launch and about a month of testing to fix problems and get comments, a formal rollout of the Web site is planned for March. The site's initial address is beta.ireport.com.

"This is a big step for an organization like CNN," said Barry Parr, a Jupiter Research media analyst. "Traditional news organizations are often unwilling to let users even comment directly on their stories, and it still makes them a little nervous."

Other news outlets have followed Atlanta-based CNN's approach. Fox News Channel launched uReport last year. MSNBC has FirstPerson and ABC News has i-Caught.

CNN's Headline News network also has "News to Me," a cable program dedicated to airing user-generated content.

"There's absolutely no question about the direction the Web is headed in," Parr said. He said for media companies, "the risks of doing nothing are much greater."

On Tuesday, CNN.com iReport videos included material about a London fire, the recent tornadoes in the Southeast, third graders discussing Super Tuesday voting, and a Hawaii martial arts demonstration.

Frequent contributor Steven Malecki, 53, a retired New York police officer, said CNN has used his photos of events including a lunar eclipse, the New York City Marathon and the Manhattan plane crash that killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle.

"I've had a dream of getting involved with journalism," Malecki said, noting that he always carries a camera in case he's at "the right spot at the right time."

Early images of iReport.com show that visitors will be able to sort news materials in several ways, such as viewing which submissions have the most comments or are the "Newsiest."

"The community itself will decide what's news, what's of interest, what they like most and what they want to share and talk about," Grant said.

Visitors can view the site without registering, and can create their own profile pages. Frequent and popular contributors can earn "Superstar iReporter" status.

Site users, who must be at least 13 years old, will be able to download content at home or post material to other sites such as Facebook and Digg.

Submitted material will initially be accompanied only by CNN promotions, but eventually the site will be open to advertisers, Martin said.

CNN, part of New York-based Time Warner Inc., does not risk its reputation with the site, but should be prepared for people trying to "game the system," promoting some submissions over others, said Parr, the analyst.

Material approved by CNN editors for use on CNN.com or on the network will be tagged with an "On CNN" image.

However, CNN will not police the site's content. That job will fall to a third-party moderating company responsible for removing copyrighted content and offensive material like pornography.

Users also will be able to flag questionable submissions. An item with 20 flags will carry a warning screen for other viewers and be reviewed by moderators.

"Our goal here is to be exceedingly open and exceedingly transparent about the fact that CNN is providing the tools and creating the site, but everything on that site is from the community," Grant said. "We don't touch the content."