CNN has been experimenting with citizen journalism since summer of last year to a generally positive response from the viewing public. As it turns out, they are continuing that experiment, and inflating it into its own news hub over at iReport.com. The site currently pops up a very non-descript "under construction" message, but MediaWeek got a sneak peek at what the site is going to end up looking like, and they describe it as a very YouTubish video-centric destination where "wannabe Anderson Coopers can upload videos, photos and audio files."
That's as far as the folks at CNN have really gotten to thinking this thing through. According to MediaWeek, CNN know's that citizen journalism is important (or at least, profitable), but they don't "know how iReport will evolve once users warm up the site."
It seems unclear how the site will be moderated. In one quote from CNN, they say that iReport will be completely unvetted. Then, on the other hand, Susan Grant, EVP of CNN News Services says, "We'll be telling people in lots of different ways that it's a post-moderated site."
Just by perusing the quotes mentioned in the MediaWeek write-up, it's clear that CNN is completely blinded by the dollar signs. Every other mention in the piece makes note of how they know there are barrel-loads of cash to be made, but they're just not to sure of whether citizen-journalism will work.
As someone who's been involved in 'citizen journalism' for more than a decade, I know as well as you that it can work. The question here is whether or not CNN is the best qualified organization to pull it off successfully. During the last attempt at collaboration with the media, the YouTube-CNN debates, they not only came away with egg on their face, but gave significant black-eyes to New Media in the process in the eyes of the public and politerati.