CNN to appoint new ambassador for iReport in London

CNN has announced new investment in its iReport citizen journalism platform with the first appointment outside the US with a new iReport ambassador in London with a worldwide remit.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk at the News World Summit in Paris, CNN International's vice president for digital Peter Bale said the new appointment will be responsible for driving audience interaction.

Bale could not reveal the new appointee, who is due to start in around a month, at this stage, but said the decision to bring people to London to drive the platform was due to the innovation in the city "from a social point of view".

Speaking to the conference about iReport he said it is about "seeing readers in a more graduated and complex way".

The personalities which emerge on the platform are also a "very significant aspect", with the recent addition of a gamification element involving a badges mechanism for iReporters and a rating facility.

Bale also outlined the recent changes to its comment policy, with editors now able to "go into comments much more actively and deal with conversations".

There is often "must less trollism" if journalists can go in "and address conversations full on."

He said he hoped the platform was not "displacing" any of CNN's existing staff, but said there have been incidents where CNN would not have been able to cover events using overage from agencies or by itself.

Therefore with "so many people in so many places" the platform can only add to CNN output.

"It is additive rather than negative. CNN has made some pretty bold decisions to do less with AP and Reuters. A very complex decision but all about us owning a bigger percentage of our own content.

"iReport may be seen as way in which we can compensate for the loss of some of that reach but that's not the intention."

Bale also indicated a wish to develop a "stronger outreach programme" to reach under-represented voices.

"I agree it's not just about us sending people from Atlanta into a place, it's about hearing from people in place permanently."

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