No Heart Attack For Steve Jobs - Citizen Journalism Failed?

According to citizen reporter, Johntw: “Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack.” Apple quickly squashed the story, claiming it to be untrue. Did citizen journalism just fail us? You bet it did.

This is the way the story started. A citizen journalist only known as johntw, had posted the above information on iReport which is a site sponsored by CNN. The site was setup for citizens to report on news worthy stories or other reports that could be of interest to news agencies. The site claims that the content is unfiltered and uncensored and that freedom of speech is welcome.

But what is causing controversy for everyone, including bloggers, are the allegations that this type of journlism is a failure. Because one lone person posts a lie on the site, everyone will be labled as not trust worthy to make a report.

According to the article:

This Is Trouble

The question was then raised: do false reports like this damage CNN’s credibility? The answer is yes, absolutely. This particular report may even lead to an SEC investigation where CNN will be asked to provide an IP address for the user who posted the story.

The problem here stems from the fact that because CNN has obviously decided not to police or edit the iReport section of their web site, the section is left wide open to “reporters” who want to wreak a little havoc.

But who are these citizen journalists? And how easy is it to become one?

Apparently, it’s as easy to become a citizen journalist on CNN as it is to sign up for a new web app from an internet startup, if not easier. The process involves nothing more than filling out a name, screen name, and email address. Adding a phone number is optional and only necessary if you want the story to be considered by CNN. There’s a CAPTCHA to prevent bots and an email confirmation link, but thanks to disposable email addresses, those are practically a waste of time these days.

After reading this article and others posted on the Internet, it makes one think what is the real purpose of these stories? Is it to bring down citizen journalists and bloggers? Can anyone state that NO journlist has ever filed a false report?

What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Source.