Global News Giant Plans Virtual Bureau

NEW YORK As other news organizations slash budgets and scale back bureaus, CNN is expanding—just not in real life.The news giant is set to open a news-gathering outpost in Second Life next week. And unlike news service Reuters, which embedded a real reporter in the online virtual world last year, CNN will rely on Second Life "residents" to do all the legwork.In the space, the cable network will create a variation of its i-Reports, the real-world vehicle through which average citizens contribute eyewitness reports. CNN will equip Second Life denizens with kits enabling them to transmit copy and photos. Visitors to Second Life will be able to get the latest news via kiosks scattered throughout the virtual community landscape.CNN joins Reuters and BBC, the other news organizations to establish an outpost in Second Life, which boasts 10.3 million residents and a functioning economy, complete with its own stock exchange. Like brands in Second Life, CNN will face homegrown competition. Second Life has several digital newspapers published by residents, such as Metaverse Messenger and Second Life Herald.The network will act as a sort of journalism school, offering guidance to avatar citizen journalists via weekly "news meetings" directed by CNN.com staffers. And top CNN personalities including Larry King will conduct virtual training sessions for budding cyber-journalists.Given that Second Life users tend to be highly passionate about the virtual space, CNN execs believe the community will embrace user-generated journalism—more than they would repurposed content."We looked at what people are doing [in Second Life] that is meaningful to what we do," said Susan Grant, evp, CNN News Services. "I love that we don't have to take things from the real world and force them in."There have been many lessons for marketers to learn as they've taken their first steps into a make-believe world where residents think nothing of flying from island to island. American Apparel and Starwood Hotels, two brands that opened outposts in Second Life, have closed them down. Visitors at other marketing spots are sparse.As for whether Second Life will generate news events, i-Reports producer Lila King said she is not concerned. After all, visitors to the online world include real newsmaking personalities like Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, who most recently had the public guessing whether he'd jump into the presidential race. (He didn't.)CNN's association with Second Life comes at a time when the digital phenomenon is awash in media hype but still far from cracking the mainstream. Its unique-user base has hovered between 400,000 and 700,000 per month over the last year, according to Nielsen Online (sibling of Adweek), and has twice fallen below the research firm's minimum-reporting threshold.Meanwhile, research company The Yankee Group recently produced a report on Second Life detailing a "pronounced" decline in usage. Senior analyst Christopher Collins said Second Life's claims of more than 10 million avatars skewed perceptions of its popularity."The people that are active there tend to be very active," Collins said. On the other hand, many users come to Second Life and are "frustrated, confused and don't find it immediately compelling," he added.Brands looking to link up with Second Life should view it principally as a way to "experiment with the different ways people are communicating," Collins said. "Is it a great, cost-effective way to reach a mass audience? No."In fact, CNN's aim in establishing the virtual bureau—which took "very little investment," according to Grant—is to learn. "I don't think we are betting the whole farm on it," she said. "It's one aspect of many ways we are engaging with users."

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Global News Giant Plans Virtual Bureau

Mike Shields

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