- Rosemary Church is headed to her home continent of Australia for a short break. BackStory's Michael Holmes will be filling for her on the first weekend block of shows.
- New York-based photojournalist Emmanuel Tambakakis was injured recently while in Greece. TVNewser has the story.
- In case you missed it, Tony Harris (anchor of CNN Newsroom on CNN Domestic) broke out in a little Michael Jackson a while back. They showed the video to him and here is his reaction (look for a great Kyra Phillips appearance):
CNN Press Release - Republican strategist Mary Matalin has signed on to serve as a CNN political contributor, the network announced Thursday.
The former Crossfire co-host will appear on programs across the network, including Anderson Cooper 360°, State of the Union with John King, and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
In addition to her appearances on other CNN programs, Matalin will appear twice monthly alongside her husband, Democratic strategist and fellow CNN political contributor James Carville, on State of the Union with John King. Their first joint appearance will be Sunday, April 26 for a special "First 100 Days Edition" of State of the Union.
"As one of the best-known and best-connected strategists in the country, Mary will join our line up of top Republican analysts including Bill Bennett, Alex Castellanos, and Ed Rollins," said Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington programming. "We are thrilled that CNN viewers will be able to tap into Mary's vast political experience advising candidates and presidents from both inside and outside of the White House."
Matalin, a veteran political commentator, served as a senior White House advisor to both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. She was a key strategist in President George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign, and was appointed chief of staff for the Republican National Committee after his successful bid. She was also a key strategist in the 1992, 2000 and 2004 Republican presidential campaigns.
PAULINE CHIOU JOINS CNN AS HONG KONG-BASED ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT
CNN Press Release - CNN today announced the appointment of Pauline Chiou as an anchor/correspondent based in the network’s Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
Chiou has previously worked for CNN based in Atlanta and has covered major international stories including the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, the Iraq war and the resignations of former White House senior political advisor Karl Rove and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In addition, her business experience has included reporting live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
“Pauline is a seasoned journalist with a first class portfolio of anchoring and reporting experience and we look forward to her joining our award-winning team in Hong Kong” said Katherine Green, Senior Vice President Programming for CNN International. “More than ever, Asia Pacific plays a pivotal role in global affairs. Pauline’s appointment further underlines CNN's expansion of newsgathering resources in this key region and beyond,” she added.
Chiou received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Yale University and a Master of Science in Journalism from Medill School of Journalism. In 2008 she was awarded the Don T. Sheehan International fellowship to attend the annual Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists. At the start of her career she won an Associated Press Award for Feature Reporting for a special series on the Massachusetts National Guard’s peacekeeping missions in Bosnia.
Prior to joining CNN, she worked as a weekend evening anchor at the CBS station in Boston, Massachusetts and as a morning news anchor for the NBC station in Houston, Texas.
Becky Anderson's new show Connect The World is set to launch on CNN International in the coming days. You can check in with her show page/blog at http://www.cnn.com/connect.
The page describes her show as:
Connect The World takes viewers on a sweeping journey across continents, beyond headlines and into histories, possibilities and depths of the stories that are changing our world. Host Becky Anderson and guests will join the dots of stories and events by exploring how an event or circumstance in one part of the world can have significant impact and reach elsewhere.
Look for Connect The World to debut Monday after International Desk.
Speaking of International Desk... it is moving to a new time starting Monday. Look for the show to air at 3 PM EST/9 PM CET.
CNN.com Live to stream Funeral Mass for Earthquake Victims in Italy
CNN Press Release - CNN.com Live, the site’s live, multi-stream video news service, will stream the State Funeral Mass being held in Italy tomorrow for Monday’s Earthquake victims. The service is scheduled to begin at 5 a.m. ET and is taking place at the school campus of the Italian police force, Guardia di Finanza. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is scheduled to attend as well as other prominent Italian political leaders in an exceptional Good Friday funeral mass with full state honors. To access CNN.com Live, go to www.CNN.com/Live and click on the thumbnail images under the "Happening Now" column.
CNN.com is the world's No. 1 destination for online and wireless news, garnering the greatest audience share of total minutes 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 an Edward R. Murrow award, a National Headliner award, four EPpy awards and the Online News Association’s award for general excellence.
CNN Earns Prestigious Peabody Award for Political Coverage
CNN Press Release - CNN has won a 68th Annual Peabody Award for the network’s multi-platform coverage of the 2008 presidential primary campaigns and debates. According to the Peabody Board, “CNN gave viewers unparalleled coverage of a historic presidential election process.” CNN relied on its extensive resources and platforms to change the way the world looked at presidential political coverage and, as the Peabody recognizes, led the way with “distinguished achievement and meritorious public service.”
"A tremendous amount of innovation, commitment, quality journalism and hard work stand behind this honor,” said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide. “CNN provided unrivaled coverage around the world across every platform possible, including television, radio, the Internet, and mobile.”
The award honors CNN’s application of state-of-the-art technology, such as the “Magic Wall” and the CNN Election Express, which served as a mobile newsroom. The network used these tools to present viewers with a closer look and better understanding of presidential politics. The judges also cite CNN’s “small army of reporters, producers and analysts,” who blanketed the country and television screens across the world. The Best Political Team on Television provided viewers with unmatched coverage and a front-row seat to a historic election.
Additionally, in close collaboration with the Best Political Team on Television, CNN.com provided unmatched coverage throughout the election season through in-depth reporting, live and on-demand video, and numerous interactive and customizable features. In particular, CNNPolitics.com and the CNN.com Election Center enabled online users to dig deeply into details about the candidates, their campaigns and their positions on the issues most important to voters and included detailed coverage of debates, fund-raising and state-by-state analysis. Further, the CNN Political Ticker – the No. 1 political news blog in 2008 according to Nielsen Online – brought users up-to-the-minute news from the campaign trail from CNN’s political producers, correspondents and analysts each and every day.
In addition to receiving the significant honor of a Peabody, CNN received ratings victories throughout the election season. CNN was the most-watched cable news network on virtually every primary night, including Super Tuesday when CNN also topped CBS and ABC in certain demographics. CNN also was the most-watched cable network among the 25-54, 18-34 and 18-49 demographics for all Presidential Debates. Eight of the nine debates CNN hosted ranked as the highest-rated presidential debates in the history of cable news. On Election Night, CNN was the most-watched network on television from 8-12:30a, beating every other network in total viewers and in key 25-54 demographic. Throughout its coverage of the primaries and debates, as well as conventions and on Election Night, the CNN Digital Network maintained its No. 1 ranking among all news and information sites.
The Peabodys, the oldest awards in broadcasting, are considered among the most prestigious and selective prizes in electronic media. The Peabody Awards recognize excellence and meritorious work by radio and television stations, networks, Webcasters, producing organizations and individuals. The 16-member Peabody Board is a distinguished panel of television critics, industry practitioners and experts in culture and the arts. Selection is made by the Board following review by special screening committees of University of Georgia faculty, students, and staff.
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.
