CNN vs iReport

There is a big difference in the stories reported on CNN and iReport both in style and content. The stories on CNN deal with issues of both global and domestic importance. They are reported in a more traditional news style and deal mainly with the presenting of facts. The stories on iReport however deal mainly with the opinions of the contributors. They report and comment on issues of importance to them. iReport serves as a forum for people to not just report news but to discuss the effect it has on them. The majority of the iReport stories on the first page are about the Presidential election, the economy, gas prices, etc. things of great import to these people. CNN's stories however, cover a wider range of topics, not just in the United States, and may not be as important to the readers. To me it seems as if CNN is trying to tell its readers what they should be concerned with while iReport gives the same people a chance to respond with what is really important to them.

This assignment was to find an example of how web 2.o exposes certain truths. As I mentioned in class in the Sports world many stories often first break online. Whether it be news of an injury, trade, or whatever, countless times the news will be followed by..."as reported by so and so from espn.com." Also many players now have their own blogs which they constantly update in order to keep their fans in the loop. This past spring I believe it was Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox who first announced via his blog that he would be having shoulder surgery and would likely miss the entire season. I also am a fantasy football player and finding out if players are hurt is very important to me. The best way to do this is checking online because they have up to the minute updates and always have the latest news before TV or newspapers or whatever. While web 2.0 has been shown to spread a lot of untruths, the immediacy of which news can be reported online, and the amount of access it can provide can also help to find many truths, especially when dealing with professional sports.