CNN.com realizes the value of citizen journalism
Although dot-com has been making some attempts in the area of collecting user-generated content earlier, CNN.com wasn't the first among news organizations to introduce citizen journalism as a substantial part of their product and business activities. Look at MyMissourian, for example :) But, as far as major news organizations, plunging into the the world of user-submitted content, CNN.com yet again is a pioneer in the industry.
CNN Exchange http://www.cnn.com/exchange/ launched in August 2006, and is now positioned equally to other sections, such as Politics, Health, and Entertainment.
CNN Exchange organizes user-submitted content on a page in a catalogized fashion. The page includes a spotlight section
http://www.cnn.com/exchange/ireports/spotlight.html
Blogs and commentaries from TV personalities also found their home on Exchange: Anderson Cooper’s 360° Blog, analytical commentaries from people outside the news organization write their thoughts under the “Special for CNN” initiative.
There are also polls (Quick Vote), links to other "citizen journalism" sites, user commentaries, on daily news reports, CNN.com Top Picks section and Cartoon Clicks.
Exchange also serves as a placeholder for the legal disclaimer, which, again, is designed to conserve resources and employee resources that would normally be spent on signing releases, fact checking (which is still done), contacting users for verification purposes, etc.
This is the first time dot-com gave so much space and importance to the wonder of the online world, that has been a popular topic in the online world for both professionals and professors. With the culture of innovation being so ingrained in this company, it is strange that citizen journalism hasn't received its portion of attention earlier. However, the company presents it in a different light: “In another indication of CNN Worldwide's leadership in journalistic innovation, CNN.com today announced the launch of "CNN Exchange," a comprehensive user-generated content destination that features user-submitted video, audio, articles and graphics and also allows users to interact directly with the site's news reports, commentaries and polls.”
From the official press release http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1221643,00.html
I would think that business objectives stood in the way of devoting resources and time to a project like this: while it’s hot and talked about, the business owners are not quite convinced it’s worth the effort and the financial investment. However, as soon as the value of this product was realized (after it was proven in other media outlets), CNN.com went forward with developing its own citizen journalism application in order to remain competitive and add value to the overall product.
On the other hand, Web 2.o ventures, like MySpace.com are only slightly profitable, as advertisers are wary of having their names displayed next to examples of “unprofessionalism.” And for dot-com being fully supported by ad revenue, it is understandable to be cautious with the launch of this new product. Right now, Dell is one of the sponsors of CNN Exchange. How CNN managed to do that? By imposing the same quality standards on user-submitted content, as they do on their own journalists’ work. See more on that below.
Several mini-attempts have been made during major breaking news events like bombings in London, Hurricane Katrina, earthquake in South Asia, and others. Here are some examples of user-generated content from the era before the Exchange:
Gallery: Katrina aftermath http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0508/gallery.katrina.citizens/frameset.exclude.html
Gallery: People pitch in http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0509/gallery.citj.relef/frameset.exclude.html
Gallery: Asia quake
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/world/0510/gallery.quake.viewer.photos/frameset.exclude.html
Gallery: Online evolution
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/online.evolution/interactive/gallery.email/frameset.exclude.html
Most frequently, citizen journalism existed in the form of soliciting feedback about certain events. This is an example from the times of Hurricane Katrina coverage:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/07/feedback.rebuild/index.html
Simple, yet effective way, of getting user-supplied content was done through user submission pages and forms on the Web site, which then go to a designated e-mail box and are manually sorted through and moderated by the editorial department.
With the launch of CNN Exchange, a more sophisticated way of collaborating with viewers/readers took place. The branding of this portion of the site is concluded in I-reports that allow you to “Send your story. Share your thoughts. Make your mark.”
To start off, CNN gives you a do-it-yourself guide to being a journalist. This “Toolkit” was created by interviewing real CNN journalists, camera men, photographers, audio editors to gather tips for best practices of online journalism and to establish a standard that CNN’s business model is built on.
The page http://www.cnn.com/exchange/ireports/toolkit/index.html gives tips on taking good photos, audio and video and uncovers “trade secrets” to educate users about online journalism, so the “I-Reporters” can provide quality content for use on the Web site. This is sort of “It’s better to train, that re-train” idea employed here in order to save time and money and scarce resources.
In the PR campaign devoted to the launch of CNN Exchange, the product was presented as demanding the same quality as of CNN’s own reporters. All submissions go through the same vetting and approval process as CNN’s own original reporting.
CNN’s spokesperson Jen Martin said "All of our reporting, even from our own internal correspondents, goes through some very strict vetting. We're going to hold this user-generated content to those same standards." In other words, it is the same editorial control as inside the network, which is healthy for both high-quality journalism standards and for attracting advertisers like Dell. But, then again, journalists as gatekeepers is not a new idea at all.
Quote from http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3623906:
I especially like this feedback on Exchange from mashable.com, where the author refers to the service as CNN’s answer to YouTube, as well as notes how late in the game CNN was with this product offering: http://mashable.com/2006/07/31/cnn-exchange-cnns-answer-to-youtube/
From MediaWeek:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002915775
While CNN has been collecting user-generated fare for some time, as more Web users become active participants when consuming news, professional organizations must further embrace this trend, say officials. “User-generated content has the potential to play a pivotal role in journalism whether it’s online or offline,” said Mitch Gelman, senior vp and executive producer for CNN.com. “With CNN Exchange, we’ve essentially created a one-stop shop for CNN.com users to share their contributions with other Internet users, as well as to weigh in on the day’s most pressing news.”
Other opinions on CNN’s new venture include this one from Gawker.com (Warning: Gawker’s language may be offensive) http://www.gawker.com/news/cnn/cnn-exchange-enters-messy-clusterfuck-of-citizen-journalism-191238.php
The major difference between CNN’s citizen journalism product and other media outlets that embrace readers’ contribution is that CNN imposes the same standards of quality, as to its own, in-house created product. All of that is done in order to protect “the most trusted name in the news” brand, and still keep the value of the product up a notch.
Other citizen journalism pros talk about the value of objectivity, but in a different sense: The OhMyNews.com founder Oh Yeon Ho has a different view of objectivity. He says “We put everything out there and the people judge for themselves… We do not regard objective reporting as a source of pride. OhmyNews does not regard straight news articles as the standard. Articles including both facts and opinions are acceptable when they are good. Thus, we not only break the concept of "who reporters are," but also break the formula of "reporters are supposed to be like blah, blah, blah." From http://www.mediamanagementcenter.org/updates/mainstory.asp
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