CNN Press Release: Nominees to be Featured on CNN/U.S. and CNN International Week of March 7th. CNN.com Users to Select Community Choice Winner

CNN today announced that CNN iReport, the network’s user-generated news community, is launching the CNN iReport Awards to honor the best examples of participatory journalism in 2010 from CNN’s more than 740,000 iReporters globally. The final winners of the CNN iReport Awards will be announced on March 15.

“The collaborative relationship that we have with our iReporters is one of the unique strengths of CNN, and in many ways represents the future of storytelling,” said Meredith Artley, managing editor and vice president of CNN.com. “These awards are designed to celebrate those outstanding efforts.”

“iReport Awards are a great way for CNN to recognize some of the outstanding work in the iReport community,” said Lila King, participation director, CNN.com. “Every day, iReporters share their stories with CNN, and it is an honor to be able to showcase and recognize them for the impact they make on the news.”

The iReport Awards are divided into six categories: Breaking News, Original Reporting, Compelling Imagery (photos or video), Commentary, Personal Story, and Interview. From the more than 150,000 iReports received in 2010, a team of CNN journalists and producers selected five iReports as nominees in each category.

A panel of judges comprised of innovators and trailblazers in participatory storytelling will select a final winner in each category. The panel of judges for the CNN iReport Awards includes Errol Barnett, anchor and correspondent, CNN International; Rachel Campos Duffy, columnist, Parentdish.com; Ze Frank, CEO, Star.me; Dave Isay, founder, StoryCorps; Laura Brunow Miner, founder, Pictorymag.com; Shane Smith, president./co-founder VICE; Tim Shey, president/co-founder, Next News Network.

Of the 30 total nominees, online users also can show their support for the iReport they think best enhanced CNN’s storytelling in 2010 by voting for the Community Choice winner at www.CNNiReport.com/awards . Voting is open until noon ET on March 7.

Nominees will be featured the week of March 7 from 3-5pm ET, on CNN/U.S. during CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin. On CNN International, the nominees will be featured on iReport for CNN which airs Thursday, Febuary 17th at 11:30 p.m. ET and replays the following weekend.

CNN Press Release - Today, Google held a press event at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters to preview Honeycomb 3.0 and how developers are using the platform. CNN was one of three brands selected to join Google on stage to give a sneak peek of CNN's latest mobile application: the CNN App on Android.

The app is scheduled to launch in Android Market soon in conjunction with the Android tablet's commercial launch.

Some highlights of the CNN App on Android Tablet are as follows:

• Available for the Honeycomb platform, 3.0 SDK at launch
• iReport capture and upload functionality is available first on Android tablets
• Live and on-demand video, plus CNN Radio updates
• Available for free on Android Market

During the event, CNN vice president of mobile Louis Gump and CNN.com participation director Lila King demonstrated a select few of the application's features, including:

Broadsheet: This main screen makes a broad range of stories easily accessible to the user by presenting up to 350 of the latest news stories in a grid-format that features powerful imagery and headlines. Users can dive more deeply into a topic by selecting from the navigation fragment or by swiping left and right. Further, the customized action bar offers direct access to iReport, Live Video and CNN Radio updates.

Live Video: Taking advantage of Honeycomb’s HTTP live streaming capabilities, CNN is delivering raw domestic and international live feeds for major stories and in breaking news scenarios

iReport: This is the first time that iReport has been available on a tablet. The CNN App for Android lets users browse user-generated content; register, sign-in to their account or sign on as a guest to capture and instantly upload user-generated photos and videos (through the front and rear cameras). Users can also browse iReport’s latest “assignments,” asking the community to weigh in on various news stories. Honeycomb's status bar pops up in the notifications tray, which lets a user know that their story has been uploaded. It continues to upload even when the app is closed.