Mediaweek’s Mike Shields writes about CNN launching a news site in Second Life Virtual World…

Given that Second Life users tend to be highly passionate about the virtual space, CNN execs believe the community will embrace user-generated journalism—more than they would embrace simply repurposed content.

“We looked at what are people doing [in Second Life] that is meaningful to what we do,” said Susan Grant, executive vp of CNN News Services. “I love that we don’t have to take things from the real world and force them in.”

As for whether the world of Second Life will generate news events worthy of reporting, i-Report producer Lila King is not concerned. After all, visitors to the online world include news-making personalities like Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House who most recently had the public guessing whether he’d jump into the presidential race (he hasn’t).

CNN’s association with Second Life comes at a time when the digital phenomenon is awash in media hype but still far from cracking the mainstream. Its unique user base has hovered between 400,000 and 700,000 per month over the last year, according to Nielsen Online, and has twice fallen below the research firm’s
minimum reporting threshold.