CNN’s iReport leads to Apple stock drop on citizen journalist talk of Jobs health
Citizen journalism gone awry or short selling scam, you can’t deny that the drop in Apple stock that cost stock holders so much money was directly correlated to the CNN iReport story that falsely reported Steve Jobs as having had a heart attack. This is bad news for both CNN and Apple, and rankles with aspiring citizen journalists everywhere.
In case you haven’t heard the term, citizen journalism refers to citizens blogging about news stories, often breaking the story before a major media outlet. Many old media outlets have shunned the growing trend of citizen journalists via blogs, microsharing, podcasts, video blogging, live streaming and other on-the-fly news delivery methods. CNN has taken a different approach, integrating microsharing service Twitter via anchor Rick Sanchez and a new show that revolves around the service and his activity there, and also starting the iReport site as a way for citizen journalists to interact with a major news outlet in reporting real time news.
Old school journalists often scoff at the very idea of citizen journalism. This kind of real time, man on the street reporting by its very nature often has less checks and balances than a traditional journalist likes to see. A traditional journalist my cite “anonymous sources” for a story, but they know there is an editor behind them helping that story to stand, and and often validating the sources. The average blogger has no editor, though most citizen journalist bloggers go to great pains to source and prove stories even without this vetting process.
The old guard must be crowing with glee right now at this major, billion dollar gaffe caused by a citizen journalist. It’s something that on the surface lends credence to their claims that something like this, or worse, would happen if regular people just started reporting news willy-nilly. I don’t think it’s the major blow they were waiting for however. For one thing, Jobs’ health is far too easy a target. This is the third time he has been in the news under false report of his failing health, and at least one of those times was an obituary leaked by a major news outlet. Hard to point fingers with that in recent memory. For another, it is painfully apparent that Jobs is having some health issues, and also that Apple is not yet grooming a replacement. You could say the dramatic drop was less a response to the iReport story and more a response from shareholders to the fear of Apple flying blind should Jobs finally succumb to whatever ails him.
In light of the continued rumors about his health, whether they were generated in this case to short sell stock or not, Steve Jobs and Apple need to come up with a plan for a replacement, or go public with any plan they already have. Meanwhile, CNN needs to stick to its guns with its iReport service and vet future stories before airing them (something it promises to do in its TOS). this gaffe simply served to highlight two weakness of two companies, and nothing more.
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