FUTURE ISLAND -- The new media kid on the Second Life block is CNN, and it has tech toys and news reporting know-how to share with SL residents. The international news giant opened its virtual doors with an eye toward learning about virtual communities and how news is made and reported in-world. Its initiative centers around bringing the its iReport citizen journalism project from CNN in the real world into the virtual world, according to Lila King (Lila Ireport in Second Life), Senior Producer at CNN.com Interactive Storytelling.

“We've enjoyed pretty phenomenal success in the real world. Who knows if it will work in Second Life,” King siad.

The iReport hub is situated on one-fourth of Future Island , a sim owned by CNN's virtual world agency Millions of Us. Kiosks situated around the i-shaped hub contain both video screens to display resident-generated video reports as well as iReport toolkits dispensed for free to intrepid resident reporters. The kits include a CNN “camera” and a HUD for viewing photo and text i-Reports. The kiosks can also be copied and placed wherever residents have permission to build.

“I think the big question in CNN's entry into SL is why SL residents would want to contribute to CNN when they can just post on their own blogs?” asked Mitch Wagner, (Ziggy Figaro in SL). “Will CNN be paying its resident-journalists?”

The resident reporters will not be paid just like there is no compensation for submissions to iReport in the real world, King said.

"We're providing simple tools to help people to tell stories of Second Life," said King who said that residents are invited to submit their own reports using video, text and SL postcards. All submissions go through a professional vetting process at CNN.com. Select stories are NOT edited by CNN.com editors once selected and published in-world via an iReport HUD and the iReport kiosks.

“I suppose they'll get some people involved who are jazzed about writing for CNN,” said Wagner who admitted the kiosks and HUD component of CNN's in-world strategy sounded interesting.

CNN plans to hold regular editorial discussions with resident reporters every Tuesday at 2 p.m. SLT at the news desk near their hub's landing point.

Said King, “What we are really hoping to do in Second Life is learn about virtual worlds and building and maintaining online communities. There are a