CNN Premieres User-Generated Online Community

ATLANTA, February 14: CNN
Worldwide has announced the beta launch of iReport.com, its first uncensored,
unedited user-generated community news website.

Scheduled for a full-scale
launch in March, iReport.com provides users with an open forum and a set of
tools and applications to upload, share and discuss news with each other.
Currently available at beta.ireport.com, iReport.com is a spin off of the
network’s successful iReport initiative, which has generated nearly 100,000
video, photo and text submissions to CNN.com since its launch 18 months ago.
Many iReports received—such as critical cell-phone video from the
Virginia Tech shootings; images of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis,
Minnesota; and eyewitness accounts of severe weather and political protests
around the world—provided an added dimension to CNN’s reports each day.
The iReports are also used for Headline News’ News to Me on CNN U.S., the first user-generated television program on cable
news.

After undergoing an extensive
vetting process, only 10 percent of the iReports received by CNN have appeared
on air or on CNN.com, but on iReport.com all submissions will be available
instantly for viewing. iReport.com contributors may also gain recognition by
having the material they submit to the site—once vetted and approved for
use— appear on a CNN network or CNN.com.

Any visitor to iReport.com
can view all content on the site without registering or they can create their
own profile pages, to submit audio, photos, video and text, and connect with
other iReporters who have shared interests, in ways similar to other
social-networking sites. The site provides users with simple tools for
connecting iReport.com with other social-media sites such as Facebook, Digg,
del.icio.us, reddit and StumbleUpon. Registered members on iReport.com can
become “Superstar iReporters,” the top 20 percent of the site’s members each
week, determined by a tally of members’ contributions, ratings, popularity and
site activity.

Following the model of
most other user-generated content sites, iReport.com has established Community
Guidelines and will not censor or screen the site’s content. As long as a
submission adheres to the guidelines, it will appear on iReport.com. Beyond
that, the site’s users determine the content of iReport.com and can flag
material for review by an independent third-party moderator.

“CNN is tremendously
excited to launch this new global community site, a destination for all
iReports and iReporters,” said Susan Grant, the executive VP of CNN News
Services. “We are thrilled to now have a platform where all iReport submissions
are available for anyone and everyone who wants to view them.”

—By Irene Lew