1. CNN
iReport
Growing communities -
news:rewired presentation
Sarah Brown, CNN iReport

2. Who we are Notes and statistics
‣ CNN iReport is CNN’s participatory journalism platform,
where the audience can share their stories
‣ iReport as a brand and platform existed since 2006, stand
alone site launched 2008, refresh 2011
‣ More than one million registered iReporters, we have received
an iReport from every country in the world
‣ Content subject to rigorous vetting procedures and CNN’s
editorial guidelines, standards and practices.

3. What we do What follows
‣ CNN iReport aims to harness stories and content from iReporters to
inform and enrich CNN’s news content
‣ iReporters contribute breaking news, features, video, images, opinion
and more
‣ iReport harnesses the power of other social platforms such as
Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Storify to develop new content
‣ So, what should you do to grow your community and manage the
resulting great content?

4. How we
work
1. Empower the audience to tell you what to cover

5. How we
work
2. Get the right platform for the right story – Obama’s
inauguration with Instagram

6. How we
work
3. Think multiplatform
• Content from iReporters can be repurposed
across CNN’s TV, radio, online and social platforms

7. 4. Close the loop
• iReport team always
acknowledges and thanks
iReporters
• Rate of return – happy
iReporters become repeat
contributors
• Fostering sense of community
– iReport pages are designed
for interaction amongst users
• iReporters are always credited
for their work, we retain non
exclusive rights to their content

8. How we
work
5. Manage the content – the ripple effect
•Your story does not end when it’s published
Ensure you are asking for comment and reaction and
pay attention to it – potential for new angles
•Promote your stories cross platform – they will have new
lift across your social channels and elicit further
comment
•To help create those ripples, have a social plan in place
to promote your content cross platform – don’t just bolt
it on at the end

9. In summary Growing your community – final thoughts
- If you build it, they will come: iReport team uses assignment model
on our website to draw in content. Often it is us who ‘kickstarts’ the
conversations – the community responds in kind
- Empower your community: The assignment model empowers
iReporters to follow each other for updates, traffic light system
enables them to tell us what stories are good/bad/need more work/
should be on CNN
- Use social sites to complement your platform and make it easier to
generate content/have people find you, for example using CNN
hashtags on Instagram to pull in content to inauguration special

10. How to find
us
iReport.CNN.com
Twitter: @cnnireport
Instagram: CNNiReport
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/cnnireport

11. Thank
You.
Thank
You.
Sarah Brown / @sarahbrowngb
sarah.brown@cnn.com/ Twitter
@sarahbrowngb