CNN Press Release: CNN Provides Unrivaled Coverage of Midterm Elections Online, on Mobile and on Television

CNN today kicks off its special coverage of the midterm elections with the launch of the CNN Election Center App, marking the first time a major cable news brand has simultaneously launched an app for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone and iPod touch. Additionally, tonight at 7:30 p.m., lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer co-moderates a debate in Delaware between candidates, Chris Coons (D) and Christine O'Donnell (R), vying for Vice President Joe Biden’s former Senate seat. Pervasive across all platforms, CNN’s special coverage of the midterms – whether on your mobile phone, laptop or television – channels the full strength of CNN’s resources, including CNN.com’s political reporting team, the CNN Political Unit, CNN’s Washington and New York bureaus and journalists in the field, as well as CNN’s army of iReporters.

Throughout the election season, Blitzer and anchor Anderson Cooper will spearhead the network’s special coverage, while Larry King will continue to interview political newsmakers on his nightly program. Chief political correspondent and anchor Candy Crowley will add insightful and balanced reporting and interviews, and chief national correspondent and anchor John King will an upgraded Magic Wall to break down data state-by-state and to show the political pulse of the U.S.A.


On Mobile: CNN Election Center App for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone and iPod touch

The CNN Election Center App features important political news through text, video and photos, and also includes user-generated content capture and upload functionality through iReport, CNN’s user-generated news community. Users can access the latest headlines and video related to the Midterm Elections, as well as share stories with their friends via email, Facebook and Twitter, all directly from the app.

The app also gives users the ability to view the details of all House, Senate and gubernatorial races by zip code. In late October, the app will update to include relevant ballot measures by state, as well as allow users to find polling locations.

The app also incorporates robust user-participation elements, such as the Daily Vote and iReport Election Project. Each day leading up to the election, the app will feature a different ‘daily vote’ question for users to share their opinion and see how other users voted. Through the iReport Election Project, users are invited to participate in a rolling series of up to six challenges. Participants in the iReport Election Project also will be able to:

• Take a quiz to establish their political identity;
• Browse iReports related to the Midterm Elections;
• Capture and instantly upload user-generated photos and videos related to the Midterm Election; and
• Earn special badges to be featured on their iReport profile page
  

Through the app’s Races section, users can pre-select up to 15 races to ‘follow’ until November 2, allowing easy access to results on Election Day. Additionally, Android, and iPhone and iPod touch users can opt-in to have news alerts related to the Midterms automatically pushed to their devices.

Finally, on Election Day, the app will showcase real-time election results for House, Senate and gubernatorial races, and key ballot measures, listed alphabetically by state.

The CNN Election Center App is available for free from Android Market, BlackBerry App World and the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch. For more information about the CNN Election Center App, click here.


On Television

The Best Political Team is expanding to cover the November’s election. It includes: new hosts Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer, anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien; senior political analysts Gloria Borger and David Gergen; political contributors John Avlon, Paul Begala, Bill Bennett, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Alex Castellanos, Erick Erickson, Roland Martin, Mary Matalin, Ed Rollins and Hilary Rosen; anchors T.J. Holmes and Don Lemon; national political correspondent Jessica Yellin;senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash and congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar; senior White House correspondent Ed Henry and White House correspondents Dan Lothian and Suzanne Malveaux.

Technology will once again be a key member of the Best Political Team, serving as a critically helpful tool in telling the complex story of the midterm elections. CNN will unveil new equipment installed in the New York studio’s Election Center to display virtual objects, building upon the innovations from 2008’s election coverage. Additionally, upgrades to the Magic Wall will enable anchors and correspondents to sort through a tremendous amount of data, both from traditional means and from social media, to better break down what is happening across the country.

In addition, CNN correspondents and political producers will fan out to crucial states between now and Election Day to produce content for both television and the web. Every day and through Election Day, and every hour into prime time, live on-air updates from the CNNPolitics.com desk in the Washington Bureau will provide viewers with the latest up-to-the-minute political news. The network will also rely on its extensive resources to take the temperature of the American public through CNN national polls and weekly CNN/Time Magazine state polls, as well as to tell the stories behind the issues driving this election cycle and the people behind politician’s public faces.


Online: CNN.com Election Center

Extending the reach of CNN’s Best Political Team far beyond television, the new CNNPolitics.com has introduced the CNN.com Election Center, the premiere online destination for the midterm elections. Featuring the latest information about the most important issues and races, the Election Center includes a plethora of information to satisfy everyone from the political novice to the junkie through subsections including:

• “The Basics,” a 101 explaining why the Midterms matter and what’s at stake;
• “The Races,” providing users with detailed, state-by-state information, including data maps, Races to Watch and graphics that show the balance of power in the House and Senate;
• “The Issues,” a breakdown and explainer about the biggest impact issues of the Midterms;
• “My Election,” customizable election tracker showcasing local headlines, information on relevant state contests and fundraising data. As Election Day nears, users can find their polling location and follow up to 15 races and/or ballot measures; and activate a module featuring results for the three races most important to them, which will “follow” users throughout CNN.com along the right rail of the page.
• “Polling Center,” featuring the most comprehensive polling data of any news organization in the political landscape where users can access and sort select public polls covering national trends, issues, and selected House, Senate and gubernatorial races.

CNN is also offering more information about each of the candidates through a partnership with Project VoteSmart. In addition to biographical and campaign fundraising information, users can explore voting records, interest group ratings and the candidates’ positions on the issues simply by clicking on the candidate name in the Results section a week prior to the elections.

Users also can access the CNN Election Center on mobile devices by typing http://m.cnn.com/election into their mobile browser. Additionally, by entering a ZIP code into the “My Election” field on the mobile version of the Election Center, users can obtain instant results to the races that matter to them most.


In Your State

CNN anchors Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley and John King will continue to moderate debates during the closing days of this election season in various bellwether states. Those debates include a showdown in Delaware moderated by Blitzer tonight and two Sunshine State debates in the coming weeks. Crowley will moderate the Florida three-way senate debate on Oct. 24 followed by King moderating the Florida gubernatorial debate on Oct. 25. King already returned to his hometown for a Boston gubernatorial race debate on Sept. 21.

In addition to these debates, CNN’s Election Express has been rolling through the country with dozens of correspondents and producers reporting from campaign sites along the way. The CNN Election Express is a state-of-the-art mobile newsroom, equipped to handle all major HD and Standard Definition (SD) formats to cover news stories with unparalleled depth and speed. For the CNN teams in the field, the Election Express serves as a complete workspace, combining the capabilities of a studio, editing room and production facility with those of a satellite truck.


Around the World

Viewers from around the world also will also have the opportunity to follow the mid-term election as CNN International simulcasts many hours of CNN’s coverage.