CNN Press Release: CNN Showcases Faith’s Role in News with Debut of “Belief Blog”

CNN.com today announced the launch of the Belief Blog, which explores the faith angles of the day's biggest stories – from breaking news to politics to entertainment to foreign affairs.

Aimed at covering a subject matter that will inform, inspire and delight the CNN.com audience, the Belief Blog fosters a global conversation about the role of religion and faith in the news – and in users’ lives. Found online at www.CNN.com/belief, the blog is co-edited by award-winning religion blogger and author Dan Gilgoff and CNN producer Eric Marrapodi, who is pursuing a master’s degree in religious studies from Georgetown University.

“A topic as personal and global as faith is woven into the daily news cycle in so many compelling ways,” said Meredith Artley, vice president and managing editor of CNN.com. “CNN.com's Belief Blog will be newsy and conversational, hitting hard topics and also having some fun. We're looking forward to the smart thinking and discussions that our talented editors will bring to this important beat, along with our deep bench of guest bloggers, producers, correspondents and iReporters."

Uniquely leveraging CNN’s global newsgathering resources, the blog presents fresh looks and multiple perspectives at how faith drives the news, from the arrest of Baptist missionaries in Haiti to the debut of the first known Miss USA to be Muslim. Going beyond the news, each week the Belief Blog also will feature different influencers in the faith community, from Joel Osteen to Deepak Chopra. Additionally, Stephen Prothero, the New York Times bestselling author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, and Doesn't, will be a regular contributor to the Belief Blog.

CNN also is inviting users to share their perspectives on faith by submitting photos and videos through iReport, the network’s user-generated online news community. The blog’s first iReport assignment asks users to share the often eye-catching, offbeat or controversial messages featured on signs in front of their hometown churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship. The “Church Signs” assignment can be found at iReport.com.

Twitter users also can keep up with the blog’s latest postings by following @CNNbelief.