Bogus Jobs' Heart Attack Report Rattles Citizen Journalism

CNN's iReport Web site hosted a user-submitted story that claimed falsely that Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack. The prank puts citizen journalism in the line of fire.

An unsubstantiated report of Apple CEO Steve Jobs suffering a heart attack is emboldening question marks around the notion of citizen journalism. A user identified only as "Johntw" posted a story on CNN's iReport Web site Friday morning stating Jobs had been rushed to the ER as a result of a "major heart attack." The user cited "an insider" who he said "opted to remain anonymous" but was "quite reliable."

That tersely stated reliability proved to be enough to send Apple's stock plummeting. The company's shares fell by more than 10 percent shortly after the report's publication. It wasn't until Apple representatives came forward to adamantly deny the claims that shares rebounded, and the report was removed. The Securities and Exchange Commission is now investigating.

CNN's iReport site, like other news organizations' user-submitted content portals, allows anybody to submit and immediately publish content. Fill out a form, click the link in the e-mailed verification, and you're a full-fledged iJournalist. That kind of raw and instant connection can be a blessing, or -- as demonstrated in Friday's Jobs incident -- a curse.

"The Internet really is the Wild West when it comes to freedom of information -- there is no sheriff in town," says Terry Anzur, a TV talent coach and news veteran.

"Let's say you have another Virginia Tech shooting, and somebody with a cell phone is in the right place at the right time to be able to put the breaking news on iReport. You don't want to censor that -- and in order to get that, you have to put up with somebody who decides to start trouble by starting a rumor," she says.

Anzur happens to have a personal connection with Jobs -- the two graduated high school together in Cupertino, Calif. -- so hearing the apparent "news" of his heart attack certainly caught her attention. And while CNN's iReport site is separated from the network's primary online news operation, cnn.com, Anzur believes the shared branding can easily cause confusion.

"The typical user does not [draw the distinction]," she says. "They don't know whether the 'i' in iReport stands for 'intelligent' or 'idiot.'"

That increasingly blurred line between journalism and rumor is a serious concern for Al Tompkins, the broadcast/online group leader at The Poynter Institute-- a specialized school for journalists of all media forms.

"How could you possibly allow just anybody to post just anything under your label unless you have blazing billboards that say, 'None of this has been verified, we've not looked at any of this, we have no idea if this is true'?" he asks.

iReport's banner at the top of the site reads: "Unedited. Unfiltered. News." That marketing, Tompkins asserts, delivers a misleading message.