CNN vs. iReport

This iReport phenomenon is very interesting to me. It lets people write about stories that are of interest to them and their network of people. IReport seems to be the voice of the people insofar as people can write and report on things they feel are important to them, using the logic that if it's important to them, it would be important to others as well. I noticed they have a lot of opinion questions on the site which seem to encourage people to think critically and "outside the box". That being said, although iReport is cool and allows people to report on what they want, CNN still seems to promote an agenda of what should be covered. CNN still promotes an underlining agenda and pushes people to follow-up where they cannot and when they cannot. Another example is how CNN notifies one on iReport a general breaking story, almost as if to encourage one to upload and research information for that is relevant to that topic in particular.
On the side of CNN, iReport is a way for CNN to for lack of a better term take advantage of the little guys. An iReport reporter was paid by CNN to have exclusive rights to sounds from the Virginia Tech Shooting, according to our friend Wikipedia. While that person did get paid, I'm sure CNN got so much more selling it to other news networks, channels, and affiliates. Although iReport promotes free expression, it is just another way for CNN to say that they got it first, that they were there first, and I think it is being done partly to benefit them.
CNN.com is more world news with professional journalist reporting. CNN seems to have more world news and information that is not as accessible to the everyday citizen. Tougher stories that take more time to develop and that require more research are more common on CNN.

The "Truth"

For this posting, we've been asked to discuss a truth available on the Internet. Prior to this, we discussed the difficulties of finding "truths" and credible information on the Internet, especially with the new Web 2.0. However, in the midst of all the chaos on the Internet, there are sources where credible information is available. We like to think that large news corporation sites like CNN.com and MS NBC are credible sources that give truthful information and usually they are.

A truthful site that I want to bring attention to is snopes.com. This website is around to bring light and truth behind different myths, lies, and untruths that circulate around the Internet. Their slogan is rumor has it! For example, there was an email that got sent to me about a kid who had Leukemia and sending the email will help raise money for a surgery that would correct a lot of his condition (or rather something along those lines). This email compelled me so much that I forwarded to everyone in my address book, which I NEVER do. One of the recipients of this email was my aunt, and she replied back to me sending me a link to snopes.com. She said that the email was a myth and sent me a link supporting the reasons why. If you are interested, check it out: http://www.snopes.com/inbo xer/prayer/hodgkins.asp. I think websites like this help to keep truth on the web and help to stop lies and untruths from spreading and making lasting impacts. Snopes.com talks about a lot of issues and stories and help to bring forth the truth in this Web 2.0 culture filled with fast and often incorrect information.

"UnTruth" - Monday September 22, 2008

This was a difficult assignment for me because when required to think of an "untruth" on Web 2.0 on demand, I froze up. I waited and waited, and looked and looked hoping to find some "untruth" to expose. What I have come up with was mediatakeout.com. It all came about when my housemate and I were watching a reality show called I Love Money on VH1. As we were watching the episode, she told me that somehow, media take out found out that Hoops (a competitor on the show) won. The season finale has not occurred yet, and while we don't know if this is a truth or a rumor yet, it is an example of how news that isn't so important and that may not be credible can spread so quickly. This may or may not be true, but this website did the same thing last year revealing the winner of hit reality show, I Love NewYork. That was true, this may not be, but it is INSANE how fast news travels whether it be at the right or wrong time and whether it be true or false.
This website also deserves some acknowledgment in the "untruth" issue because of the large variety of stories it posts about celebrities, both true and untrue and how they become common knowledge before they validated and checked for truth. I want to say that gossip on this site can be contrasted with real media sources such as CNN.com and MSNBC because they do have entertainment sections. My concern is that even those sights filter through celebrity gossip that is not neccessarily truth.