CNN Press Release - CNN Unveils New Documentary Programming and Original Special Investigations

CNN.com Announces Site-Wide Facebook Integration, New Entertainment and Tech Sections, New Blog Network

CNN Worldwide, with a 30-year history of investing in journalism and innovation, unveils a compelling new slate of long-form programming for CNN/U.S., exciting new features on CNN.com and spotlights its HLN hosts and International journalists in its Newsmakers 2010 breakfast in New York today.

CNN/U.S.

At a time when the broadcast and cable news networks have essentially walked away from true documentary development, CNN continues to invest in enterprise and investigative reporting that is critical to the future of quality journalism. Over the next six months, over a dozen hours of original documentaries and special series will debut on the only news network still dedicated to non-partisan reporting. Upcoming, CNN will present the following long-form original programs on education, the environment, terrorism, culture, Haiti and others:

HAITI– Rescued
Premiere: Sat. May 8, & Sun., May 9, 8 p.m., 11 p.m., 2 a.m. (one hour; all times Eastern)

CNN anchor & special correspondent Soledad O’Brien investigates the plight of those left most vulnerable in the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake – Haiti’s children. Told through the eyes of 7-year-old Cendy Jeune and former child slave Marckenson Oliphi, O’Brien reports on how Haiti’s orphans struggle to overcome immense obstacles – crushing poverty and the shame of child slavery. Along the way, O’Brien interviews people connected to Haiti’s almost 400,000+ orphans – missionaries, aid workers, and relatives, all who themselves must overcome bureaucracies and a frail recovery from the powerful earthquake.

FIXING AMERICA’S SCHOOLS
Sat., Apr. 17 at 7 p.m., Sun., Apr. 18, at 6 p.m. (one hour; all times Eastern)

CNN Newsroom anchor Don Lemon interviews U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a dynamic town hall about America’s schools. Sec. Duncan will answer questions straight from parents, teachers and students in Atlanta on the realities they face everyday ranging from school facilities and safety to standardized testing.

AN ANDERSON COOPER 360°INVESTIGATION – AMERICAN AL QAEDA
Week-long series begins the week of May 10, followed by one hour special on Sat., May 15, & Sun., May 16, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m., 2 a.m. (one hour; all times Eastern)

Bryant Neal Vinas, born and raised in New York, a once friendly, baseball-playing Catholic altar boy, is now a sworn enemy of the U.S. CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson spent a year tracing Vinas’ life’s journey, learning how and why he became a hate-filled terrorist helping al Qaeda plan a bomb attack on New York City. Exclusive images and first-time interviews yield the most intimate portrait ever of an American homegrown terrorist.

CNN DOCUMENTARY: THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS (w.t.)
Coming in June 2010 (two hours)

Almost thirty years after the murders of over 25 Black children, teens and young adults, CNN anchor & special correspondent Soledad O’Brien investigates the nearly 2-year siege of fear that gripped the city of Atlanta. Although Wayne Williams continues to profess his innocence from behind bars, with his arrest and conviction, he was described as both a “monster”– and the nation’s first Black serial killer. With exclusive access, O’Brien examines new evidence to offer viewers a new look at the persistent doubts, and decide for themselves who was responsible for all those lost young lives. Viewers will be able to vote for their verdict on this case on CNN.com.

AN ANDERSON COOPER 360°INVESTIGATION – BLACK AND WHITE: KIDS ON RACE
Multi-part series coming in June 2010

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper revisits the watershed 1947 “Doll Test,” conducted by married African-American psychologists Mamie and Kenneth Clark. The study explored how children interpret race and discrimination, and their original research was included in the arguments for the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown vs. Board of Education (1954). CNN anchor & special correspondent Soledad O’Brien and Cooper engage a 21st-century team of child psychologists to design and analyze this culturally pivotal social experiment. They explore what has changed in the 60 years since those original children taught the nation powerful lessons about prejudice and segregation that helped to desegregate America.

A SANJAY GUPTA, MD SPECIAL--TOXIC TOWNS USA
Coming in June 2010 (one hour)

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta presents a year-long investigation into toxic chemicals and public health. With a focus on once-rural Mossville, Louisiana, Gupta investigates citizen’s complaints that the nearby plastics’ industry and other chemical plants are responsible for widespread cancers, respiratory diseases, and other ailments. Gupta talks to residents organizing to face down a frustrating bureaucracy as they seek help – and a local grandmother chemist who says she was taking on industry long before Erin Brockovich.

IN AMERICA – GARY & TONY HAVE A BABY
Coming in June 2010 (two hours)

Gary and Tony are life-long gay activists. They also share a classic, traditional dream – marriage and a baby. Unable to legally marry in the U.S., they travel to Canada, get married, and spend thousands on an arduous journey toward parenthood via surrogacy and in vitro fertilization. CNN anchor & special correspondent Soledad O’Brien finds that though Gary and Tony had hoped for a happy extended family, they discover instead ambivalence about same sex marriage. With court battles, and struggles against their hometown community – can these men achieve a life as mainstream as their parents?

A SANJAY GUPTA MD SPECIAL-- DADS FOR MY DAUGHTERS (w.t)
Coming in June 2010 (one hour)

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on best selling author Bruce Feiler (“Walking the Bible”), who after a devastating diagnosis in 2008 of osteosarcoma (a rare and aggressive bone cancer), thought he was going to die. He endured brutal treatments and decided to form a “Council of Dads” for his twin girls. A group of his closest male friends would in effect take his place as father to his girls should he not make it. Each father represents a special gift and value which Feiler feels is important to pass on to his daughters who are soon to turn five years old. Feiler,author of the forthcoming book “Council of Dads” continues to fight his cancer.

IN AMERICA – KATRINA PLUS FIVE (w.t.)
Coming in August 2010 (one hour)

Five years after the famous hurricane that nearly destroyed the city of New Orleans, CNN anchor & special correspondent Soledad O’Brien investigates what progress has been made and what, if any, lessons have been learned from the events that followed the storm. O’Brien reveals what has happened to survivors and what officials are doing to prevent “another Katrina” from ever happening again.

BLACK IN AMERICA – CHURCHED
Coming in October 2010 (two hours)

Martin Luther King, Jr. described 11-o’clock on Sunday mornings as “the most segregated hour in America.” He hoped the Black Church would become a “Beloved Community,” where everyone – sharecropper to businessman – would be treated equally, working together for social justice. Indeed, the Black Church provided the vision and the foot power for the movement that reshaped America. Churches have long been central to African-American community life, supplying food, money, and social connections. Four decades after the Civil Rights Movement, CNN anchor & special correspondent Soledad O’Brien uncovers how close the Black Church remains to this vision and talks to church leaders and believers about today’s role of the Black Church in America.

CNN.com

As the No. 1 news and information site on the web at large, as well as in online video and mobile, CNN holds the top leadership position the digital sphere. Further, the relevancy of the most social news brand on the web is punctuated by CNN’s fearless pursuit of producing the most distinctive, original editorial anywhere.

Over the next year, CNN.com will introduce several innovative social media implementations into the site, as well as enhanced sections for Entertainment and Technology. Additionally, CNN is launching a blog network cutting across multiple verticals from breaking and international news to entertainment, food and religion.

CNN.COM WITH FACEBOOK
In 2009, CNN and Facebook joined forces and enabled millions to experience of the Inauguration of Barack Obama right alongside their friends directly on CNN.com. The unique collaboration set a new record for the largest live video event in Internet history. The next phase of CNN’s partnership with Facebook, launching later this Spring, will integrate Facebook Connect throughout CNN.com, allowing users to share their actions on the site. From any page on CNN.com, users will be able to seamlessly recommend or share site content with their Facebook friends, as well as see when their friends have recommended, shared or commented on a CNN.com story.

CNN ENTERTAINMENT
Led by former OK! Magazine editor Katie Caperton, the section and its revamped blog, The Marquee, will feature beat coverage of television programming, such as live blogging of juggernauts like American Idol; movies, including reviews from iReporters; music; and a newsy, fresh look at celebrity and popular culture.

In addition to highlighting all the latest entertainment news, CNN Entertainment will include a new feature called “Trending Now,” revolutionizing how news and information is visualized and prioritized. The story selection in “Trending Now” is user-driven and constantly updated according to the related activity in CNN.com’s comments, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

CNN TECH
The site’s new technology section will feature coverage relevant to the daily lives of users across categories and beats, including Social Media, Mobile, Web, Gaming, Gadgets, and Innovation.

The section will feature coverage and columns from CNN.com writers John Sutter, Doug Gross and Brandon Griggs; weekly columns from Mashable Founder and CEO Pete Cashmore; and guest columns from digital luminaries such as Slate Magazine technology columnist Farhad Manjoo, Hunch.com and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Apple 2.0’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt.

CNN BLOG NETWORK
In addition to covering major news of the day across multiple verticals, CNN.com is launching a blog network that will amplify the strength and reach of CNN’s reporting resources. Covering a wide range of topics to inform, inspire and delight, the site’s featured blogs include:

• Eatocracy: Covering all news related to food – from recalls to health issues to culture; edited by Kat Kinsman, former senior editor for AOL Food and of Slashfood

• Belief Blog: A fresh look at a topic that unites and divides: religion. Co-edited by award-winning religion blogger and author Dan Gilgoff; and Eric Marrapodi, Washington-based CNN producer pursuing a masters in religious studies from Georgetown.

• This Just In: Showcases the full power of CNN’s newsgathering packed into one blog, featuring any and every early detail about breaking news events. Edited by CNN.com writers Mallory Simon and Manav Tanneeru and updated by staff in London, Hong Kong and Atlanta.

• Afghanistan Crossroads: as one of the only news organizations with a permanent presence in Afghanistan, CNN staff there on the ground and around the world provide users with the latest news from the region as well as insight into what day-to-day life is for those who live there; edited by CNN senior producer Amy Cox.

HOME AND AWAY
Continuing to develop innovative ways to present its audience with news and information, CNN will launch an immersive interactive honoring the lives of every Coalition Forces casualty in Iraq and Afghanistan. An extensive data visualization project, “Home and Away” tells the story of where and how the lives of these troops began and ended, and also includes a place for the audience to share tributes via iReport, CNN’s user-generated news community. At its core, “Home and Away” enables the CNN audience to more personally connect with a deeply complex issue in a tangible and respectful presentation.

CNN.com is the No. 1 destination for online and wireless news according to Nielsen, garnering the greatest audience in online video, 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.

CNN Worldwide is a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company. CNN's portfolio includes 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.