Week 5: Assignment and Student Response to Discussion One and Two

ThursdayNov 2 at 8:03pm

Manage Discussion Entry

CNN has embraced citizen journalists with it's CNNiReport, which allows the public to participate in reporting the news as they see it unfold, as well as providing space to discuss the stories. The stories are not edited or fact-checked before they appear, which might seem risky and cutting-edge. Stories are monitored, and the good news for wanna-be reporters is that if a story sparks the interest of the powers that be at CNN, the story can graduate from CNNiReport to CNN at large.

For inspiration, CNNiReport has news or photo assignments that participants can choose to accept. Today's photo assignment was to 'share your photos of space and the stars' for example (CNN, 2017).

CNNiReport seems mostly interested in photos with brief descriptions. I read a short piece about a protest that took place after Trump announced he would put an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The story referred to the program only as DACA, and described it as a program that protect undocumented youths from being deported, but did never mentioned what DACA stands for. I would not have gotten by with that in writing for my local paper. It was very brief, as well, longer than a caption, but shorter than the 400-500 words I am usually given when I write a story.

The site provides the following warning to their participants: "Please note: Breaking news situations can be unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. Do not expose yourself to a risky or potentially dangerous situation" (CNN, 2017).

Cindy Harthorne

CNN.com. (2017, November 2). CNNiReport. Retrieved November 2, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/specials/opinions/cnnireport