http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-470363?hpt=SbinSo a puppet is reporting for CNN?
"liereport made his way over to the scene of a building fire in Manhattan yesterday with his trusty puppet, Ted. 'You knew something significant had happened. The entire street had been shut down,' he said. He also noticed helicopters flying overhead and that people had stopped to watch the incident. He usually does a variety of street interviews and entertainment pieces, but this was his first hard-news piece."
Sadly, the irony is not lost on me. Nor the semiotics.
But what, exactly, are they hoping to accomplish here? I mean, bread and circuses, sure. But in something that's supposed to pass for news?
Their disclaimer: iReport is a user-generated section of CNN.com. The stories here come from users. CNN has vetted only the stories marked with the "CNN" badge
So, if I do a report with some sort of "proof" that Dick Cheney is Satan incarnate (not that this would be a difficult chore mind you) and slapped it up on CNN, I would have my work validated by CNN. They will take any story. They only vet a few. If I tried these shenanigans on my own, personal, website they would slap a lawsuit on me so fast Einstein would have to develop a new benchmark for speed.
But if we dig just a bit deeper we see that it comes down to the Benjamins:
"CNN's producers will check out some of the most compelling, important and urgent iReports and, once they're cleared for CNN, make them a part of CNN's news coverage." Basically they are saying: We'll whore out our name, if you give us some free reporting.....
I long ago lost my respect for CNN as a serious news source. I just ignored them because they had nothing to offer. Now, I find them pathetic and disgusting. Can I file a restraining order?
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