Atlanta
– Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) CNN has filed suit against one of its iReport citizen
journalists who allegedly falsely claimed to be an accredited journalist with the
network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The suit claims that Robert
Paisola has identified himself online as a "senior iReporter for CNN"
and "regular contributor to…CNN," and tried to pass himself off as
representing the network in a manner he was not authorized to do in order to
gain access to news events.
It alleges trademark infringement, breach of
contract and unfair competition, as well as breach of a prior related
settlement.
For his part, Paisola posted a rambling video to YouTube defending
his work, and warning that other CNN iReporters who invest money in equipment
and time to pursue the opportunities becoming available to citizen journalists could
face similar charges.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vicz6
(Hollywood Reporter)
sure, you could get charged… if you are stupid enough to lie about your credentials.
i’m PRETTY sure cnn has some ground rules covering what you can claim. shouldn’t be too hard to NOT break the rules, you’d think.
or… you can make false claims you know are nonsense, get caught, and then bitch about it. yeah, that seems more efficient.
Paisola clearly misrepresented himself. Though I’m not sure who would take the title “Senior iReporter” that seriously. All that said, there is no way CNN is going after their iReporters in a broader sense. They’ve built their online model around this type of user-generated content.