CNN already has a breaking news app for Google Glass, but the news outlet wants to expand its Glass presence with a new app that will allow citizens journalists to send breaking news to the CNN newsroom using their high-tech specs.
iReport, which is CNN's program for citizen journalism, comes to Glass to allow anyone within the vicinity of a newsworthy event to shoot a photo or video of the event and upload it immediately to CNN's online newsroom.
"If you're part of the Glass Explorer program, we hope you'll test out the iReport functionality. You never know when you'll spot breaking news, and it's a simple, fast way to share the images and videos you capture with your Glass," writes Katie Hawkins-Gaar, iReport editor, on the CNN blog.
Explorers who want to submit stories to iReport will need to authorize CNN to send notifications to their Glass. They will then be able to manage the app's settings and link their iReport profile. Glass will then show "CNN iReport" as an option for sharing images and videos.
CNN is the first media outlet to try its hand at wearable technology. Hawkins-Gaar admits in an email to ZDnet that the project is in its very early experimental stages. There are only currently around 30,000 Glass owners in the world and all of them are in the United States, as Google has not shipped Glass to the international mainstream market just yet. Out of the 30,000 Explorers, we have no idea how many are using the smart eyeglasses on a regular basis.
Still, Hawkins-Gaar says the goal of CNN's latest initiative is to learn more about Glass and find ways to use the new technology to help its own reporters working on individual assignments and collaborations.
"From an iReport standpoint, making it easier for people to upload iReports and share stories with CNN is key for us. The Google Glass functionality is part of that. We're also focused on better integration with social networks like Instagram, where countless people are sharing amazing images and stories every day," Hawkins-Gaar told ZDnet.
iReport is available for iOS, Android, Windows and some Nokia phones. In 2011, CNN announced that it has more than one million citizen journalists and at least one story has been sent in from every part of the world. iReport helped CNN cover major events, including the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004 and the Nigerian protests in 2011. However, iReport also became the center of a controversy in 2008 with a false report of Steve Jobs' death.
Before a report is aired through CNN, a team of editors and producers implement a verification process to ensure the news is credible. The process includes checking the metadata of the raw file to make sure that it was taken at a time and place that is in line with the story.
