CNN Launches New Weekly Investigative Series

CNN Pressroom - Expanding the network's commitment to investigative reporting, CNN this month launches a new long-form investigative series titled CNN: Special Investigations Unit. The new program, airing Saturdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET), will feature CNN’s top correspondents delivering in-depth hours on pressing issues currently in the news. The programs’ topical subject matter will complement CNN Presents, the acclaimed documentary series that will hone its focus on longer-lead-time, multi-hour “event” programming such as last summer’s blockbuster “In the Footsteps of bin Laden.”

CNN: Special Investigations Unit taps into the network’s worldwide resources and deep bench of top-notch journalists including chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, anchors Anderson Cooper and Soledad O’Brien, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, correspondents John Roberts, John King, Candy Crowley, Drew Griffin and others to offer a strong new brand of enterprise investigative reports.

“Special Investigations Unit pulls together our unparalleled stable of reporters and our unmatched journalistic reach,” said Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. “There is no better team in television news to step up and fill the gaping void in in-depth reporting on the truly important stories of the moment.”

The first CNN: Special Investigations Unit documentary will be a one-hour examination of the troubling home-grown Muslim extremism in the United Kingdom. Reported by Amanpour, The War Within examines the cultural conflicts within Britain’s Muslim communities and the alienation felt by many young Muslims living inside Western societies. The War Within premieres on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 8 p.m. (ET).

The new investigative series is produced by CNN Productions, the same unit that will continue to produce CNN Presents – the most honored documentary series in cable news. Four major CNN Presents documentaries are in the works for the coming year. Mark Nelson is the head of CNN Productions. A veteran producer, Nelson joined the unit six months ago as its vice president and senior executive producer.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is one of the world’s most respected and trusted sources 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; four Web sites, including CNN.com, the first major news and information Web site; CNN Pipeline, an on-demand broadband video service; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and partnerships for four television networks and one Web site.