CNN Heroes Red Carpet Photos

Stars from stage and screen are gathering at the Kodak Theatre tonight fro CNN Heroes. Here are photos of host Anderson Cooper from the red carpet. CNN Heroes airs Thanksgiving Night (November 26) at 9 PM ET.

Photo by John Shearer

Photo by Jordan Strauss

Photo by Eric Charbonneau

Photo by John Shearer

CNN Digital No. 1 TV News Property on the Web in October CNN No. 1 in reach across TV and Web, beating MSNBC and Fox News for 11th consecutive month

CNN Press Release - In October, CNN Digital beat the top TV News Properties on the web in all metrics, including unique audience and video. Additionally, CNN Digital has been the No. 1 mobile destination among all news sites for the past 33 consecutive months.

No. 1 in Unique Audience: 38.3 million unique visitors, beating MSNBC Digital by 3.2 million and Fox News Digital by 22.1 million. CNN Digital also beat CBS News Digital by 28 million and ABC News Digital by 24 million.

No. 1 in Video: More than 285 million minutes, 9 million more than No. 2 MSNBC Digital. CNN Digital is also the No. 1 news video property year-to-date averaging more than 327 million minutes per month.

No. 1 in Mobile: 11.9 million unique visitors, surpassing the nearest competitor Yahoo! News by 127%. CNN Digital has remained the number one mobile news and information site for 33 consecutive months according to Nielsen Mobile Media View. (Source: Nielsen Mobile Media View - September 2009)

CNN Digital is No. 1 among all News and Information sites in share of online news, total minutes and average time per person.

No. 1 in Share: 9%, nearly doubling MSBNC Digital (5%)
No. 1 in Total Usage Minutes: 1.2 billion total usage minutes, 77% ahead of MSNBC Digital (688 million).
No. 1 in Time Per Person: 30% more time spent per person with CNN Digital than any other site among the top 20 sites

With a combined reach of more than 123 million across its online and television platforms in August, CNN is the No. 1 cable news brand, beating MSNBC and Fox News. (Source: Nielsen Fusion – August 2009 – most recent data available)

CNN.com 'Cancels' CNN.com LIVE

CNN.com announced today that CNN.com Live broadcasted its last day of programming today. All four CNN.com anchors (Reggie Aqui, Naamua Delaney, Nicole Lapin and Melissa Long) were let go as well today, as well as several members of the CNN.com Live production team.

WebNewser first broke the story earlier today and has a note from KC Estenson, Senior Vice President of CNN.com. In it, he says CNN.com Live is being closed in order "to create a unit focused on streaming major live events, producing video packages especially for CNN.com and increasing our overall on-demand offering."

Our best to the CNN.com anchors and staff being displaced during this time. No word on what will happen to Nicole's Young People Who Rock blog or other popular CNN.com Live features such as Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs Octavia Nasr's Mideast Voices.

John King to Helm New Daily Political Program on CNN

CNN Press Release - CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King will take the helm of a new weeknight political program to air on CNN at 7 p.m., beginning early next year, it was announced today by Jonathan Klein, president of CNN/U.S.

As one of the nation’s leading political reporters, King will host a definitive political hour that goes well beyond the surface of the day’s top stories to provide in-depth analysis and context to key political movements in Washington and across the nation. As King does on his Sunday program, State of the Union, he will sit down with a wide range of the day’s top newsmakers, key political reporters and analysts, and elected officials.

“The program will reflect what CNN is all about: straight facts from our anchors and the widest range of opinions from across the political spectrum,” said Klein. “John has enthralled CNN viewers with his vast political knowledge, and he has spent the past year reporting from beyond the Beltway on pressing policy issues and the real people they impact. Every night, he’ll share his passion and his insights about what is really going on in Washington and across America.”

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity, at this busy and consequential time, to have a platform to discuss and explore the big issues of our time,” said King. “There is a lot of noise and conflict in our political discourse, which is fun to cover, but I’m convinced from my travels that people also thirst for more details as well as insight and context. I’m looking forward to combining those conversations with top newsmakers, smart reporting and expert analysis.”

King joins the weekday roster of CNN journalists that include Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown, Anderson Cooper and Larry King. He will continue to anchor State of the Union until early next year.

King joined the network in 1997 after a 12-year career at the Associated Press, and launched the network’s successful Sunday program State of the Union earlier this year. Since the launch of State of the Union in January, King has delivered numerous news-making interviews, including those with President Barack Obama, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Gen. George Casey, Secretary Robert Gates, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Admiral Mike Mullen, Gen. Colin Powell, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and key members of Congress and state officials. Moreover, in the 45 weeks on the air, King has visited 45 states with his Sunday program, looking beyond the beltway at the pain of the recession, the health care debate and other national challenges.

King was an integral part of CNN’s innovative “America Votes 2008” coverage of the presidential campaign, which earned a Peabody award. During the campaign, he traveled to important early election states to cover and interview major candidates, breaking news about campaign developments and pioneering the use of the CNN “Magic Wall.” While at CNN, he also served as the network’s senior White House correspondent. The 2008 campaign marked the sixth presidential election King has covered. In addition, he has reported extensively across the United States and the world, including the first Gulf War, the war in Iraq and the Southeast Asia tsunami.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Jon Klein Statement On Dobbs' Resignation

Jon Klein, CNN/US President, has issued the following statement:

“Lou Dobbs is a valued founding member of the CNN family. For decades, Lou fearlessly and tirelessly pursued some of the most important and complex stories of our time, often well ahead of the pack. All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom, and we’re grateful to have known and worked with him over the years. With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere. We respect his decision and wish him, Debi, and his family the very best.”

BREAKING NEWS: Lou Dobbs is leaving CNN effective immediately

The New York Times is reporting longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, whose anti-immigration views have made him a TV lightning rod, plans to announce Wednesday that he is leaving the network effective immediately, two network employees said.

A CNN executive confirmed that Mr. Dobbs will announce his resignation plans on his 7 p.m. program, “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” Wednesday’s program will be his last on CNN, according to one of the employees. His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011.

Mr. Dobbs informed his staff members of his intentions in a meeting Wednesday afternoon, catching some of the staffers off-guard. The anchor did not immediately respond to a telephone call seeking comment.

Well known for his political positions, Mr. Dobbs is an outlier at CNN, which has sought to position itself as a middle ground of sorts in the fractious cable news arena. The CNN employees said Wednesday that they did not know if Mr. Dobbs was moving to another network.

Mr. Dobbs met with Roger Ailes, the chairman of the Fox News Channel, in September. At the time Mr. Dobbs was viewed as a potential hire for the Fox Business Network. But a Fox spokesperson said Wednesday, “We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.”

Mr. Dobbs has been with CNN since its founding, save for a two-year stint at a Web site called Space.com. He has evolved over the years from a straight-laced business anchor to an outspoken commentator who rails against illegal immigration and taxpayer bailouts, among other subjects.

Lately, though, he has saved most of his opinions for his afternoon radio show, which made its debut in March 2008. It is on the radio show that he talked repeatedly about the conspiracy theory claims that President Obama is not a United States citizen. When he mentioned the citizenship issue on CNN over the summer, his bosses were forced to call it a “dead issue.”

More recently, Mr. Dobbs’ views on immigration provoked a protest by Hispanic groups. Members of the groups complained that CNN was allowing Mr. Dobbs “to spread lies and misinformation about us each night.”

Last month the New Jersey State Police were called to Mr. Dobbs home to investigate a report of gunfire. Mr. Dobbs suggested that his family had been singled out because of his views on illegal immigration and border security.

CNN International Looks Through The "Prism"

CNN International today launched the latest addition to the European primetime schedule with the network's first news bulletin to be broadcast from the new Abu Dhabi production center.

Following the program's debut, reaction on the forum has been positive so far.


Anchored by Stan Grant, "Prism" airs at 1700 GMT (2100 Abu Dhabi) on CNN International.

Earlier today, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince, officially opened the Abu Dhabi production centre, as the new outfit was given a network-wide welcome.

New CNN Investigation - Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes

CNN Press Release - Special Four-Part Investigative Series Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes to air on Anderson Cooper 360° beginning Nov 10^th

Anderson Cooper 360° reports Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes, a powerful and provocative four-part series about U.S. soldiers who were convicted of murder on the battlefield. The series runs over four nights beginning Tuesday, November 10^th, and concludes Friday night, November 13^th.

Three sergeants used their service pistols to execute four Iraqi men they had in custody who they believed were insurgents. Questions have emerged: On the battlefield, is murder a crime? And is the Army’s policy on detainees realistic for its soldiers in the battlefield?

While many were focused on the outcome of the presidential election, courts-martial were underway at a U.S. Army base in Germany. Ultimately three army sergeants were found guilty of the execution-style murders of the four Iraqis their 13-man unit had detained. The soldiers were certain the Iraqis were insurgents who had been shooting at them. But under Army rules for holding detainees, they knew they could not meet the burden of proof -- and they feared the suspects would be released only to be shooting at soldiers again. So the sergeants made a decision: bypass the detention center, take them to a canal, and kill them.

Anderson Cooper 360° also obtained almost 24 hours of interrogation footage which includes a confession from one of the sergeants.

In the series, investigative correspondent Abbie Boudreau and senior investigative producer Scott Zamost also shine a light on the U.S. Army’s policy about how to handle detainees, a policy that was a response to the abuses of Abu Ghraib. Some say it puts an undue burden of proof on U.S. soldiers.

On Saturday, November 14^th at 8pm ET, CNN's Special Investigations Unit premieres an hour-long special titled Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes. The special will reair Sunday, Nov. 15^th at 8pm ET.

CNN Launches New Abu Dhabi Operation

CNN International will launch its new broadcast center in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The new studios and bureau will become the fourth such operation for the network, joining existing centers in Atlanta, London and Hong Kong.

As well as launching the new broadcast center, CNN International will debut the network's first ever live news show to be broadcast from the region. Titled 'Prism', and hosted by veteran correspondent Stan Grant, the program will take one issue each night and dissect the story from multiple angles.

Ahead of the Tuesday launch, Monday's edition of 'Amanpour' was taped from the new studios in Abu Dhabi.


Three pictures showing part of the newsroom of the new Abu Dhabi bureau were released by CNN today.


Finally, Stan Grant presents a four minute tour of the new Abu Dhabi outfit for this month's 'Inside The Middle East'.

New CNN.com Launches Monday

CNN Press Release - The new CNN.com, launching Monday, Oct. 26, harnesses the full power of CNN and delivers it directly to web users in a stunning, visually charged online experience, it was announced today by KC Estenson, senior vice president and general manager of CNN.com.

(Click on the photo to view a full-sized preview.)

The new CNN.com, launching Monday, Oct. 26, harnesses the full power of CNN and delivers it directly to web users in a stunning, visually charged online experience, it was announced today by KC Estenson, senior vice president and general manager of CNN.com.

Through a full-scale, breakthrough design, the new CNN.com is uncluttered, visually bold and dramatically improves the consumer experience. In addition to showcasing CNN’s in-depth reporting, the site includes the launch of new features that make the site easier to browse and navigate, as well as a new opinion section, more integrated video and stunning photography. Adding new voices and a range of perspectives to CNN.com, the site will also feature deep content partnerships with Oprah.com, TED, People and EW magazines.

“This is a total reimagining of CNN.com, and we are extremely excited about unveiling it to the world,” said Estenson. “CNN.com has always been a destination for breaking news but the breadth and depth of the new site will give users a fresh new way to experience CNN’s content.”

Visually Driven Design and Personalization:
The new CNN.com showcases CNN Worldwide’s extensive video capabilities by featuring video and photography as the centerpiece of the homepage. The new visually captivating homepage offers all of the best stories, video, interactive features above the fold – complemented by the ability for users to customize their news settings. CNN.com’s new personalization functionality enables users to customize their personal CNN.com homepage with weather and local headlines, stock quote lookup and sports scores.

The site’s search ability was rebuilt, allowing users to more quickly and easily find articles and videos across the vast CNN.com network. The new site also introduces a beta product called NewsPulse – a new way of laying out all the news CNN.com has to offer. The intuitive filtering tool enables users to see the most popular articles and videos at a glance, search for any topic or keyword, and sort by popularity, number of comments, or by time published. Once users find a story of interest, they can read, watch or share without leaving the NewsPulse experience.


Sections and Voices:
CNN Entertainment: Applying the same philosophy to entertainment news as CNN has employed in covering politics and business news, CNN.com is now aligning all of its entertainment resources – a reporting unit, journalists in the field, CNN’s Los Angeles and New York bureaus and CNN.com’s entertainment reporting team – to make it the premiere entertainment news destination online. CNN.com is partnering with People and EW magazines to provide more of their sweeping coverage of entertainment news right within CNN.com.

CNN Opinion: CNN.com is launching CNN Opinion, a new opinion section featuring text as well as video commentaries from numerous guest contributors as well as individuals within CNN. New regular contributors to this section include:

- Pete Cashmore: CEO and founder of Mashable, one of the world's top ten blogs according to the blog ranking service Technorati, which focuses on up-to-the-minute news on social networks and new websites

- David Frum: a Canadian-born conservative journalist fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, he is also the editor of NewMajority.com, a site dedicated to the modernization and renewal of the Republican party and the conservative movement

- John Leguizamo: an Alma- and Emmy Award-winning Latino comedian, actor, voice actor and producer

Other current contributors include: Gloria Borger, Joy Behar, Bob Greene, Roland Martin, and Ruben Navarrette among others.

Content Collaborations:
TED Talk Tuesdays: Moving beyond the standard commentary, CNN.com is launching a new video commentary feature through a partnership with TED. TED is a small nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. Two annual TED Conferences invite the world's leading thinkers and doers to give the talk of their lives 18 minutes. Talks from TED and partners are made available, free, to the world on TED.com, and now, on CNN.com. Past TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. CNN.com will bring these inspirational conversations to our mainstream audience through TED Talk Tuesdays, where CNN.com will feature a talk on the home page each week. The site also will produce additional editorial content, including follow-up interviews with TED speakers, commentaries or original reporting around the Talk’s subject to provide users with a wide range of points of view.

Oprah.com: CNN.com’s partnership with Oprah becomes more robust, leveraging their content and contributors more across the Health, Living, and Entertainment sections of the site. Additionally, CNN.com is joining forces with Oprah.com and Facebook to present a live Oprah's Book Club interactive web event on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. (ET). The webcast will be a 90-minute worldwide event, during which readers can submit their questions for the author and potentially be featured during the live discussion. The special online event will be streamed live simultaneously from CNN.com’s video player on CNN.com and Oprah.com and will utilize Facebook Connect, enabling users to comment and pose questions through their Facebook profiles without ever leaving the
live webcast.

Oprah's Book Club’s sixty-third selection is "Say You're One of Them," the fiction book by Uwem Akpan. The book covers the plight of children in Africa through five short stories that are each told from a child's perspective.

“Americans in Afghanistan” and “The Handsome Furs Tour Asia”:
Building on the success of CNN.com’s Freshman Year series in which two Freshman Congressman document their experiences on the Hill with Flip cameras, CNN.com is launching two new first-person mini-documentaries exclusive to the web.

“Americans in Afghanistan” goes behind the headlines into a side of Afghanistan rarely seen. Two Americans living in Afghanistan and working with non-profit organizations share their lives through a series of firsthand video reports, revealing the struggles big and small and the moments of success that make their work worth it.

CNN.com will also feature a series, “The Handsome Furs Tour Asia.” Armed with two Flip cams, this indie rock duo husband and wife team of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Cox Perry documented their Asian tour first hand as they visited China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. The Asian tour featured in the series is in support of their second record, Face Control, which got an 8 out of 10 from indie tastemakers, Pitchfork.com and other critical acclaim. These self-described travel nerds share the fun, excitement and drama of visiting new places, meeting new people and testing new foods. Boeckner is also a member of indie rock break out band Wolf Parade.

CNN iReport:
Since CNN launched iReport three years ago, the iReport community has grown into an integral part of newsgathering and storytelling at CNN. To reflect the growth and maturity of the community, as well as CNN’s commitment to collaborating with its audience to deliver the richest, most complete global news coverage available, iReport is being fully integrated into the new CNN.com.

The CNN iReport section of the new CNN.com will share the site’s breakthrough design, folding the social media features of iReport.com into CNN to create a seamless user experience across CNN’s online news and user-generated platforms. CNN iReport will feature a curated section front, programmed by CNN producers to ensure that the best, most interesting iReport content is easy to find and share. Additionally the CNN iReport section front features direct quotes from iReporters who are in the middle of unfolding stories across the world.

iReport submissions will be clearly labeled when vetted and cleared for reporting on CNN. Vetted iReports now feature comments from CNN producers, who add CNN context to the iReporter’s first-person view. Unverified submissions will be designated as such to provide the most complete context for users.

CNN Challenge:
CNN.com debuts the CNN Challenge, an online news trivia game guided by CNN anchors. Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Robin Meade and others guide users through the quiz about top stories of the week.

CNN.com is the No. 1 destination for online and wireless news according to Nielsen, garnering the greatest audience share in total minutes and page views and the most mobile usage among current events and global news sites. Launched in 1995, CNN.com draws from the resources of CNN Worldwide and its many partners to provide consumers with the most enriching, immediate interaction with news anywhere, seamlessly combining articles, videos, images, interactive features and user-generated content. CNN.com’s news video offering – both live and on-demand – is unparalleled on the Web. CNN.com’s recent awards include a Peabody Award, two EPpy awards, four CableFAX Best of the Web awards, a National Headliner award, and the 2009 Edward R. Murrow award for best website.

CONGRATS TO THE CNN DIGITAL PR TEAM!

Congratulations to CNN's Digital PR Team for garnering THE TOP prize in the Social Media Campaign category for the CNN.com-Facebook Inauguration Collaboration. PR News’ Platinum PR Awards Luncheon on October 21, 2009 saluted the winners and honorable mentions of the annual “best in PR” program. This must attend industry event, honored the top PR campaigns of the year, the smartest communications initiatives and the people behind them.

'Cheating Death' with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

To mark the release of his new book, "Cheating Death", Dr. Sanjay Gupta - CNN's chief medical correspondent - spoke with Times Union reporter Tom Keyser.

Audio of the 24 minute Q & A session is here