New Breakthrough in Citizen Media or an Easy Path to Cheap Labor? I'll Report, You Decide.

Want to hand an international news network free news items while passing up the chance to make big money on exclusive footage youself?

Then, CNN's new Exchange Web site and I-Report initiative is for you!

Once upon a time, viewers who managed to get their camcorder or cellphone onto some real breaking news might actaully sell the footage to TV stations or news outlets like the big boys -- particularly if it was an image of something singular like, say, a tornado destroying a home or a freak accident.

But some news outlets are developing ways to get average joes to give them interesting news footage for free -- simultaneously selling it as a new form of citizen journalism.

Beginning today, CNN has unveiled it's I-Report intiative, which is basically an area of its Web site where you can upload video footage which CNN may feature on Exchange -- a catalog of user-generated material -- or even on air during a broadcast.

It's the kind of intiative you expect, given the popularity of user-generated media sites such as YouTube and MySpace. But the difference between those sites and this is that any material you provide to CNN will be vetted and edited to their liking, not yours -- it's an odd twisting of the D.I.Y. ethic that turns so-called citizen journalism into a mechanism for making the general public an unpaid extension of the channel's reporting staff.

The truth is lodged in this excerpt from the "Terms of use" you automatically agree to when you send in material: By submitting your material, for good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency and receipt of which you hereby acknowledge, you hereby grant to CNN a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to edit, telecast, rerun, reproduce, use, syndicate, license, print, sublicense, distribute and otherwise exhibit the materials you submit, or any portion thereof, as incorporated in any of CNN's programming or the promotion thereof, in any manner and in any medium or forum, whether now known or hereafter devised, without payment to you or any third party.

This is CNN?

Separated at Birth?

It's not that we're enjoying seeing Mel Gibson's gibbering anti-semitism revealed to all the world by his own, inebriated mouth. Or that the Los Angeles Sheriffs department's ham-handed attempt to protect the star have only made the scandal that much more savory (okay, maybe we're digging that a little).

What's amazing about the Mel Gibson DUI scandal is two things: First, the way it has upgraded the reputation of the Web site which broke the news, TMZ.com. Previously known for celebrity sludge like confronting Paris Hilton about the crude stuff their readers said about her on their web site (a sample: "Paris is like a fart in a mitten; you know it's there, you can't stand it, but you can't get rid of it."), TMZ has made Gibsongate its own.

It wasn't the smokingun.com that had four pages of the original, censored police report on Gibson's nuttiness (They're still featuring the scathing memo from Morgan Creek Productions CEO James Robinson excoriating Lindsay Lohan for blowing off production days during her latest movie; how last week is that?). It was TMZ, which now also has Gibson's eerily serene mug shot posted.

I said two things earlier, because the final shoe has yet to fall. According to TMZ, there is an audiotape of Gibson's entire, Jew-hating diatribe and videotape of his tantrum at the sheriff's department headquarters. So I'm betting two more things: The tabloids have a six-figure bounty waiting for whichever custodian, secretary or deputy has the stones to get them the tape. And they have another six figures going to attorneys who will argue such evidence is a public record, right along with the original arrest report.

It will take that audiotape to puncture Gibson's rep with the industry, which loves the money he makes them, and fans -- who tend to give their idols lots of leeway. Short of real audio or visual evidence of his bigotry, this will fade sooner than Shannen Doherty's latest marriage.

UPDATE:

NYT has cool story on the speed of the scandal erupting. I  must admit, I've gotten so used to the hyper-fast  world of celebrity news, I barely registered that the Mel thing exploded in a couple of days.  NYT and L.A. Times notes Mel's holocaust drama with ABC is dead, though his next wild-eyed movie, Apocalypto, is not. And HuffPost's Eat the Press posted a Separated at Birth comparison between Mel and Saddam at exactly the same time I did last night. Great (or not-so-great) minds....

SHOUT OUTS:

To HuffPost's Harry Shearer for linking to my Saturday story about news coverage of Lebanon (maybe, someday, he'll actually let me interview him about his media crit work!); Brian over at TVNewser also showed me some love...And all this speculation over Castro's health reminds me of my own earlier post about rumors of his death -- perhaps we all were further ahead of the curve than we realized....

Comments

[mr cynical]

oh mel mel mel mel.....im sure there is an audio/video bec cams are attached to those la cruisers, so its only a matter of time. but i think we know pretty much how mel's mouth became a lethal weapon against his own career without even hearing it.one can probably the trace worsening arc of mel's alcoholism with the public rise of his weird religious zealotry. usually, the more publicly religious someone becomes, the worse the demons lurking....is his career over? somehow i doubt it, even tho hollywood has more jews than tel aviv.what wd be interesting is where the hate really comes from, i.e. childhood upbringing, feelings of resentment from adult treatment by jews...etc. im sure theres an oprah segment on it in the future.

[Eric Deggans]

A: Gibson's father is a religious figure and a prominent holocaust denier. So figuring out where it came from isn't hard.B: Your quip about jews makes me a bit uncomfortable...if you had said more blacks than South Central L.A., I probably would have deleted it. So for your own information, this blog editor is probably not going to let similar comments fly in the future...

[Anonymous]

OMFG with the political correctness... Speilberg, Katzman, Weinstien... There ARE a lot of powerful jews in Hollywood. There ARE a lot of blacks in south central LA. White people really CAN'T dance. Mexicans really DO squeeze 29 family members into a 2 bedroom apartment. And black people really DO like to put $3000 rims on $500 cars. Lighten up...

[Eric Deggans]

The worst thing about stereotypes is that they are so damn seductive. Of course, there is some small truth to them, or people wouldn't find them such an easy alternative. Of course, they're entertaining. Of course, they seem to be a a way to cut through the BS and tell it like it is.Except they're not. They're a lazy substitute for more subtle thinking and more respectful dialogue. I often think people who rail about political correctness really just want carte blanche to induge their prejudices without penalty.Well guess what: those days are over. Time for some respect for everyone...

[mr cynical]

its almost too exhausting to be bothered responding, but what, precisely, is offensive about saying hollywood has more jews than tel aviv?obviously, its an exaggeration, but im missing the offense completely.if i said trop field has more yankees fans than nyc, is that offensive? somehow, in your world, the very mention of words like 'jew' and 'black' must be shrouded in a hush of political correctness, i gather.whatever.i know you are harrassed on here by one or two obnoxious twits who like to push your buttons - and you too easily allow them to succeed - but still, as another writer urged: lighten up, indeed.

[Eric Deggans]

What's wrong with saying hollywod has more jews than tel aviv?Number one: It's not true -- literally or figuratively.Number two: it echoes an ugly stereotype, that jews control hollywood.Number three: It's crude language that could easily be interpreted as an insult.Forget about political correctness: Why would you want to say something that could be misinterpreted as anti-semitic?Finally, since this blog has my name on it -- and i'm one of the only people who posts regularly here who makes his full identity known -- i'm not comfortable featuring dialogue i think others might find ethnically insensitive...

[cigar vs cigarette]

Not much on my mind right now. I haven't been up to anything. Today was a complete loss. That's how it is. Not much exciting going on these days.

[new-watches]

It is never okay to lie, sometimes okay to lie

[cyberfoldsweb]

Not much on my mind right now. Today was a complete loss. So it goes. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen. I've basically been doing nothing , but I guess it doesn't bother me.

[gayamateurxxx]

Parents have no right in spanking you - Or do they? That could be another persuasive speech topic