inside-ireport

NYC mural controversy

jsarverCNN — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:54:54 GMT

Women with full lips, jutting hips, multi-colored hair, and long fingernails adorn a 92 feet by 12 feet mural near Times Square in New York City.

The work of art, by muralist Sofia Maldonado, has been met by mixed reviews since its installation on March 2.

iReporters captured a small group gathered to protest and demand the removal of the mural on March 17. Mykwain, a New York University film student, captured reactions of New Yorkers both for and against the mural.

Many of the complaints stem from the fact that the women depicted in the mural are black and Hispanic. Others feel that the position of the mural in Times Square, a place heavily visited by tourists, is inappropriate.

One protester said that the work was “disgusting and degrading to women.” But another observer, who supported the mural, noted that the work depicts the sign of the times and he found the piece to be “astonishingly beautiful.”

Maldonado, who is Puerto-Rican and Cuban, was commissioned by the Times Square Alliance to create the work for Women’s History Month. It is set to be on display until April 30, 2010.

The debate over the artwork is taking place on CNN iReport, too. Several iReporters have weighed in posting over 300 comments under sjunat55’s submission with their take on the piece as art or highly decorated discrimination.

Is the problem with this piece the content, the location, or a mixture of both? Is there a problem with it? See sjunat55's photos of the work and decide for yourself.

CNN iReport roundtable: Today at 3 p.m. ET

davidw — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:01:32 GMT

Please join us here in the blog for our weekly roundtable discussion. We'll be talking about our upcoming weekend assignment – Walk in our shoes.

This is the long-awaited collaborative art project that we've been talking about for months and we're really looking forward to seeing everyone's videos.

We're hoping to hear from people all over the world, so please share this link with your friends. It will be a great way to celebrate the first days of spring.

We'll also be happy to talk about any other questions, comments or concerns you may have.

We'll open comments at 3 p.m. ET.

Going green

rachel8 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:08:17 GMT

Yep, literally. Today, the color green isn't a symbol of the environment, it's a celebration of St. Patrick's Day!

iReporters from all over are partying it up and showing off how their cities are commemorating the day. MrIsaacs documented Chicago's annual tradition: Dying the Chicago River a shocking shade of kelly green. sjunat55 sent photos and video from the Irish Arts Center in New York, where Irish music and dance took center stage. And JaneyBracken, our trusty Second Life iReporter, got shots of the colorful in-world celebrations, including a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Are you heading out in an outrageous green hat and "kiss me, I'm Irish" button today? Will you attend cultural or religious events? We'd love to see how you're celebrating.

Coffee Party kick-off

jsarverCNN — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:32:33 GMT

While conservatives have Joe the Plumber, an alternative group has chosen a cup of joe as their representative. The Coffee Party, another grassroots organization named after a popular morning beverage, has gained our attention.

This past Saturday, March 13th, was the National Coffee Party Kick-off Day. According to the official website for the fledgling party, their National Coffee Party Day launched in more than 350 coffee shops in 44 states.

The Coffee Party was formed in response to what Annabel Park, the movement’s founder perceived as media overexposure of the conservative Tea Party movement.

Park volunteered for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and Democratic Senator Jim Webb’s 2006 campaign in Virginia. However, she says the group is not “aligned” with any party and calls the two-party system out of date.

The Coffee Party describes itself as a made up of people acting independently of political parties, corporations, and political lobbying networks.

Here at iReport, Coffee Partiers documented the kick-off with photos and videos from across the nation—including one submission from U.S. citizens who celebrated the kick off from Italy. The groups gathered and had discussions ranging from health care to political infighting. Only time will tell if this movement gains enough momentum to compete with the Tea Party.

Check out the assignment here to see more submissions. If you see any groups gathering at your local java hut, be sure to send them to us here at iReport.

Controversy rages over 'runaway Toyota' story

hhanks — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:17:23 GMT

The story of a “runaway” Toyota Prius on a Southern California interstate Monday has since raised a lot of controversy. The driver in question, Jim Sikes, told his story to CNN's Ted Rowlands. He said he was unable to stop the car as it went over 90 mph and called 911 for help.

iReport car reviewer romanmica has been especially interested in this story. He often shares videos of the many test drives he takes, and his honest opinions on each car and how it handles on CNN iReport, but this time it was a little different. Using an “unscientific test,” romanmica wanted to see how easy it was to stop a runaway Prius (needless to say, don’t try this at home). Check out the video above.

“I tested the car on a very seldom-used road and of course made sure that the car would stop in a safe distance,” romanmica told me. “I wanted to show in a very straightforward manner that while the technology may be somewhat new and different, the way you stop the car is very much the same” as a traditional car.

As for Toyota, they told CNN earlier this week that they were investigating the incident. There is also a brake feature that U.S. safety regulators are considering for all cars.

If you would like to weigh in on this issue, especially if you own a Toyota Prius yourself, feel free to chime in here.

iReport roundtable: Thursday at 3 p.m. ET

davidw — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:06:42 GMT

Please join us here in the blog at 3 p.m. ET for our weekly roundtable discussion.

We're looking forward to talking with you.

The weekend assignment project is going great, and nsaidi will be telling us about our next challenge: "View from up high."

We were really impressed by the response to last week's challenge. Cooking a dish on camera and then editing it into an entertaining story is a really tough, but iReporters really rose to the challenge (the food looked great too!).

We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this weekend.

Comments will open at 3 p.m. ET. We'll talk with you then.

Upload issue with Firefox 3.0

tyson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:19:55 GMT

Hi iReporters, just a quick note to let you know our developers have detected high error rates among those of you using the 3.0 series of Mozilla Firefox. You may not be able to attach images or videos on the upload page if you are on the older FireFox version.

Mozilla will end support for the 3.0 series later this month. If you're a Firefox user, we suggest you download the latest version of Firefox to ensure your amazing iReports make it to our site.

To report upload problems or any other issues, hit us up at contact@iReport.com.

Documentarians visit a murder capital, delve into "Dropout Nation"

hhanks — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:58:32 GMT

We’ve certainly seen our share of documentaries on CNN iReport, but we were really impressed with two recently posted on the site.

vijays often makes short videos about schoolchildren and their views on the world. This time, he took a look at some older students who gave up on school altogether. In the two-part documentary “Dropout Nation,” vijays explores the problem of high school dropouts, and some possible solutions. He and his co-producer, Whitney Keyes, say they were concerned about the U.S. “becoming a nation of haves and have-nots.”

vijays explains that their view was that, “Facts don’t tell this story. The kids do. Our interviews include kids that dropped out for various reasons, kids that chose to live on the streets and at-risk youth.” Check out the first part of the documentary above, and part two here.

While vijays looked at problems in the U.S., iUnderground crossed the border to one of the most dangerous areas of Mexico – Juarez. He says the situation wasn’t always that dire in Juarez; he had visited there several times in the past, at one point for cheap dentistry.

He decided to pay a return visit to some of his old haunts and bring along his camera. The footage he captured really gives viewers the flavor of a specific location, and a look at Juarez beyond the headlines of violence between drug cartels. Watch both parts of this iReport here.

Happy birthday, Chuck Norris

katie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:47:38 GMT

It's hard to believe, but Chuck Norris – the man famous for portraying "Walker, Texas Ranger" and inspiring a legion of fans – turns 70 today.

Norris' tough guy persona inspired the Internet phenomena "Chuck Norris facts" in 2005. Users describe incredible feats of strength that the martial arts star is capable of. The hilarious facts are still popular today – just check out #chucknorrisfacts on Twitter to see some of the latest.

Are you a Chuck Norris fan? We'd love to hear your best facts about the action hero in the comments below. And if you ever had the pleasure of meeting him, you can share your photos, videos and memories here.

Myanmar citizen journalists' Oscar moment

hhanks — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:47:44 GMT

"iReport" was the last thing we expected to hear when we watched the Oscars last night, but surely enough, it happened. One of the nominees for Sunday night’s Academy Awards was “Burma VJ,” which told the story of citizen journalists documenting pro-democracy protests in Myanmar in 2007. In the short clip shown during the telecast, CNN’s Dan Rivers could be heard talking about the importance of iReports to CNN’s coverage of the protest there. The clip was super quick, but as soon as it was over, several members of team iReport excitedly jumped on Twitter to talk about it.

These iReports were an early indicator of the power of citizen journalism in places where access was limited. Iran has been another example in recent months.

Click here for some of the images that were sent from Myanmar as iReports, and here for more on “Burma VJ.”