The ‘newsiest now’ feature was there from the start, and my haggis hunt picture made it to the showcase panel. But I don’t recall seeing any explanation of what ‘newsiest’ means. So good spot! There’s either an algorithm at work here – views + comments + ratings = newsy – or some editorial process (or both).

Does it work? I had another look at iReport.com recently here, focussing on ‘newsiest now’:

http://www.fromthefrontline.co.uk/blogs/index.php?blog=15

“In the ‘Newsiest Now’ showcase panel today, there are seven stories. Six of these concern living with autism, and the other has pictures of tornado damage in Oklahoma. So what’s going on? Clearly, the community wants to talk about autism. That may seem commendable. It’s setting its own agenda. You could argue that CNN is providing a platform that will spread awareness of autistic spectrum disorders, which has to be a Good Thing. I would argue that the system has been manipulated by a special interest group. It’s probably unintentional but nevertheless an echo chamber has formed. Today, iReport is all about autism; tomorrow, it might be a Mac versus PC debate, or shark versus crocodile, or literally anything else at all. You choose. Anything goes. There’s zero focus. Where’s the news value here? Why would you return to iReport tomorrow? It’s just noise.”

Note that there’s no (what’s this?) link next to Newsiest Now in my screenshot so it looks like a very recent addition.

I reckon you’re right. It looks like a hidden editorial process at play. It looks like they’re gaming their own ‘unedited, unfiltered’ system to give it some value.