Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

...This is iReport’s fifth anniversary, and a CNN spokesperson calls it “the most developed and active citizen journalism platform of any news organization worldwide.” It claims 1,002,428 registered iReporters, and 2.4 million unique users each month. King said iReport has had content submitted from every country on earth.

While some iReporters are freelance journalists, or aspiring journalists, most are unconnected to the press. All are unpaid. They see something, shoot a video or photo, and upload it to the site. Others eschew breaking news contributions and instead upload videos of themselves offering commentary about politics, world affairs or local issues.

The steady stream of content submitted from people the world over is a boon to CNN, but represents a major verification challenge....