First Look At 'News Stream'

News Stream with Kristie Lu Stout premieres Monday on CNN International and today we got a sneak preview of what to expect - courtesy of Back|Story.


Regular viewers of CNN International will note the outer wall of the Hong Kong control room has been decorated with the map motif that also features in the network's studios. We also learn from the preview that Hong Kong is also in line to get a bigger touchscreen.

Also today, Kristie Lu Stout posted the following introduction to News Stream on her facebook page.

A year ago, my producer and I threw out a question. “If Steve Jobs produced a news show, what would it look like?”

Bizarre? Yes. Highly unlikely? Of course.

But that simple question got me and my producer, Ravi Hiranand, fired up about how the smart use of technology can give our viewers a better understanding of the world.

Answering that question eventually led us to News Stream – our new show on CNN International where news and technology meet.

We believe technology is more than gadgets and apps. It’s an approach. When used correctly, it can enhance our view of today’s most pressing issues. Don't worry, we're not making a technology show. News Stream will be a thorough account of all the day's main news stories and we'll still be relying on the reporting of CNN's brilliant roster of correspondents around the globe.

But News Stream will be different.

On News Stream, we'll be using visualization tools to give stories context. For example, with Google Earth we can take a model of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai, and see how it sizes up in other world skylines in New York City or Hong Kong. With this piece of software, you immediately get a better sense of just how massive the structure is.

We also use visualization apps that CNN has developed in-house. Our digital media producer, John Sanders, created a 3-D word cloud application that can visually depict the word content of a text in multiple dimensions. When we placed Barack Obama’s 2009 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech into the word cloud, we could clearly see the word “war” was used more than “peace”.

Other visualization tools include physical props like airplane models to show us how competing Boeing and Airbus aircraft compare when placed side by side. We’re also not shy about using decidedly low-tech materials like LEGO or even cardboard and a bit of duct tape! As long as a prop serves a purpose and helps tell the story in compelling ways, we'll put it on air.

Using technology as an approach also means keeping our eye on social media to see what stories matter to people around the globe. But we don’t limit ourselves to what’s trending on Twitter and Facebook, we’ll also keep an eye on the leading social sites in China, Indonesia, Brazil and elsewhere.

And finally, we keep tabs on all things geek on News Stream. We test the latest gadgets, showcase innovative uses of technology, and check in with the titans of tech. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, and Marissa Mayer, the gatekeeper of Google, are just two of the many high-profile newsmakers we’ve already profiled on the show.

So if you’re a news hound, a global nomad, or a tech junkie (or all three like me), I have a hunch you’ll want to tune in.

And if you see an app or piece of hardware that would enhance my presentation or better convey the drama of a story, please send tips my way (twitter.com/klustout). We're out to produce the smartest news show we can, but we can't do it without you.

Catch News Stream, Monday through Friday 9pm Hong Kong time, 1pm London, 9am New York.

And finally, be sure to check out some rehearsal pictures from the official News Stream facebook page.

UPDATE: CNN.com has just published a video from Kristie Lu Stout. It also features a rather cool jib shot of the News Stream set.