inside-ireport

Black in America

tyson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:15:30 GMT

Tonight, we invite you to be a part of history.

Part one of CNN's groundbreaking documentary television series Black in America airs at 9 p.m. ET. We hope you will tune in, and then share your reaction on iReport.com.

If you are watching with your family or friends, film their reactions too. Pass the camera around and capture the conversation. We want to hear reactions from all races. What did you think of the documentary? What does it mean to be Black in America?

Your thoughts, comments and reactions could be part of a special CNN.com/live show Thursday, Noon ET. You'll also have a chance to join the conversation with the producers of Black in America.

Upload your stories here.

iReport? Oyeah!

hhanks — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:24:59 GMT

Oyeah first caught our attention when he rapped about Sen. Barack Obama. He has since shared many outstanding iReports from his hometown of Cincinnati, such as the excitement over Ken Griffey, Jr's 600th home run and his encounters with visitors and residents on the city streets. Oyeah brings his talent and his interest in the stories in his part of the world to iReport.com, and the combination makes for an extraordinary addition to the community.

So what's going on where you live, and what kinds of unique angles can you bring to it? Shoot it and share it with us!

Crowning the Fresh Prince of Gotham

nsaidi — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:43:03 GMT

He could have been chilling out, maxing and relaxing all cool, but Magus5311 passed on shooting some basketball outside of the school. The 19-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, spent the days leading up to the release of "Batman: The Dark Knight" putting a Gotham-style twist on Will Smith's performance of the theme song to "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."

When the time came for the big night, he donned a full Joker costume complete with ratty green hair and scarred clown makeup for the pre-midnight queue at the theater. Afterward, he submitted his video with a review of the film. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Reader dpkronmiller traversed a more critical road with his detailed spoken-word analysis. He used Final Cut to splice it together with footage of the long lines at the theater. These were only some of the amazingly creative stories that came in about the release of "The Dark Knight." Props to all, and we hope to see what you have to say about future movies to come.

Digg the good stuff

lila — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:10:32 GMT

Have you noticed those new yellow Digg buttons on every story page? They make it easy to send iReport.com stories over to Digg, a site where the community votes on and elevates the best stuff from all over the Web. We think there's a lot on iReport.com that deserves to be recognized there -- don't you?

It's really easy to do: just head to Digg.com to create your account, then press the Digg button on the iReport.com stories you think are best. If enough other people agree with you, your votes will push iReports to the top of the pile (right where they belong).

Wanna see what's already there? Check out this list of most-Dugg stories from iReport.com

Babe Ruth on iReport.com

kate9 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:35:03 GMT

When we asked iReporters to share photos and memories of their baseball heroes, we were delighted to receive a 60-year-old photo of none other than the great Bamino himself.

iReporter Jim Cornacchia says that his dad used to play with Babe Ruth, however, instead of baseball the two played in the snow together!

Cornacchia sent a photo to iReport.com of his father, Joseph, and his aunt Audrey, after they built a snowman with Ruth at in Greenwood Lake, New York, in 1940. Cornacchia's grandparents had a cottage in Greenwood Lake, and Ruth liked to vacation there in the off-season. He would hang around with the locals and even took a chili-cooking lesson from Cornacchia's grandmother!

We'd love to see your photos of brushes with baseball greats. Be sure to check out these photos of Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey and other all-stars.

iReport.com maintenance on Wednesday

lila — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:56:44 GMT

We'll need to pull the site down for a few minutes Wednesday morning so that we can roll out a fresh version of the software that runs the site. We'll start around 8 a.m. ET and should be finished in 30 minutes. Stay tuned to the blog for details and updates. And if you've got stories during the outage that just can't wait, please e-mail them to ireport@cnn.com. Thanks!

Be nice, y'all!

lila — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:44:56 GMT

Looks like there's been a rash of rude comments going around iReport.com lately. I've spotted a few that seem to be more about personal attacks than actual commentary, and that's not what we're all here for. The discussion is so much more interesting to read when it's about real issues instead of petty bickering. Remember, if you spot a comment (or a story for that matter) that you think violates the site's community guidelines, you can always hit the "flag for review" button to let us know.

A man on a mission

lila — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:43:54 GMT

Inspired by the call to action in the just-announced iReport Film Festival, CNN producer Chuck Hadad took his camera on the road to shoot his own version of a short film about the campaign. He stops to talk to Americans all over the country about what they think about the 2008 presidential election. His film, of course, isn't part of the competition, but it's a helluva way to kickstart the festival. Take a look at part one and part two, then share your own take right here.

Bicyclists get major publicity via iReport

kate9 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:36:52 GMT

iReporter shelbinator, or Shelby Highsmith uploaded a video to iReport.com a few weeks back that really caught fire on the Web. His video, entitled "Atlanta Police stalk Critical Mass" covered Atlanta's monthly Critical Mass bike ride, when Atlanta bicyclists essentially take over the road in order to raise drivers' awareness of bicyclists.

More than 120,000 people viewed Highsmith's video on iReport.com and the Atlanta paper even sent readers to the iReport.com video for more info.

In response to the controversy raised by the critical mass ride and the publicity afforded them by Highsmith's iReport, Atlanta bicyclists have decided to host a "Courteous Mass," and plan to uphold traffic Regulations in a ride planned for July 11. We can't wait to see how it turns out, via iReport of course!

Baby turtles equal cuteness

katie — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:35:56 GMT

mlacefield's excellent video of baby turtles making their first trek to the ocean in Palm Beach Shores, Florida, received nearly 90,000 views and dozens of comments on iReport.com. It also earned a spot among the puppies, kittens and other adorable animals on cuteoverload.com.

We agree; the determined baby turtles are pretty darned cute. Be sure to check out the video if you haven't seen it for yourself.