CNN Pressroom - Mixx-Branded Buttons on CNN.com Story Pages Create New, Personalized Interaction with News

CNN and Mixx (http://www.mixx.com), a branded social news community, have entered an online content and co-marketing alliance to provide consumers with a seamless way to add CNN.com headlines and stories to their own personal blend of online news, information, photos and videos on Mixx.

“CNN.com continues to introduce new and innovative ways to provide our users with a superior news experience, which includes community and social networking tools,” said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer of CNN.com. “The social networking capabilities of the Mixx platform – including the user-driven tools to quickly surface breaking news – enable online news consumers to access personally relevant headlines and stories in an intuitive and engaging way.”

CNN.com users now have direct access to Mixx’s networking and personalization tools through premiere, branded placement of “add to” Mixx buttons on CNN.com story pages. When CNN.com users click Mixx buttons on CNN.com to add a story to the Mixx platform, they are able to bypass Mixx’s registration and immediately search for and browse through new and archived content on the social news platform. Adding CNN.com content to Mixx also provides readers with additional tools to help harness and organize the vast assortment of Internet news, information and multimedia content.

“By partnering with CNN.com, Mixx extends existing content to new audiences, while creating personally relevant networks of readers within the CNN.com user base,” said Chris McGill, CEO and founder of Mixx. “We are pleased to be working with the world’s news leader as a selected social news site presented on CNN.com story pages.”

About CNN.com

CNN.com is the world’s No. 1 destination for online and wireless news, garnering the greatest audience share 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 an Edward R. Murrow award, a National Headliner award and two EPpy awards.

About Mixx

Mixx is owned by Recommended Reading, Inc., a privately-held company based in McLean, Virginia, dedicated to connecting users and publishers in an ever more crowded digital media environment. Mixx is a customizable social media website that empowers both users and publishers of mass market content with an unprecedented blend of user-recommended media, online social networking and comprehensive personalization tools. It is built on a fundamentally different structure that allows publishers to drive highly qualified traffic to their sites while transforming their audiences into grassroots evangelists. Mixx users engage in an intuitive, threaded experience as a result of their participation in community activities around topics they define, and creation of their own interest-based start pages with customized content submission and delivery. More information is available at www.mixx.com or info@mixx.com.

CNN Pressroom - CNN Mobile has won a Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Mobile News Site of 2008, it was announced this week by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The academy presents the Webby Awards, a leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video and mobile Web sites.

For the 12th Annual Webby Awards, the academy received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide. Winners will be honored at a star-studded gala in New York City on June 10. While academy members select the winners of the Webby Awards, the Webby People’s Voice Awards are determined by the online community itself.

“Our focus is on delivering a great mobile experience – from making CNN.com easy to read on a handset to streaming live breaking news video," said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer of CNN.com. “It is a tremendous honor that Internet users across the globe believe we are doing that well enough to recognize CNN Mobile with a Webby.”

CNN Mobile, the first ad-supported mobile news service available globally, offers an array of services programmed specifically for mobile users including an intuitive, phone-compatible Web site; live streaming video; breaking news alerts; and video-on-demand. Setting a new record for mobile Internet news sites with 4.5 million unique users in February 2008, CNN Mobile has ranked No. 1 among all mobile Internet news providers for 17 months in a row. (Source: Nielsen Online).

CNN.com is the world’s No. 1 destination for online and wireless news, garnering the greatest audience share 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 an Edward R. Murrow award, a National Headliner award and two EPpy awards.

CNN Pressroom - CNN.com this week will sponsor 19 journalists from leading minority journalism associations for the network’s first-ever Digital Media Workshop. During the two-day workshop, journalists across the media spectrum will engage in coursework designed to develop, update and sharpen their digital reporting and production skills.

“As the distribution of news evolves, there is a real need for concentrated digital media training,” said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer for CNN.com. “I am pleased that we are able to provide an innovative learning environment and exposure to this fast-evolving digital media landscape.”

On Thursday, April 24, and Friday, April 25, participants will take part in the all-expense-paid workshop conducted by CNN.com’s award-winning team. Highlights of the program include hands-on training with production tools designed to tell a multi-platform story, instruction in engaging and managing user participation and the opportunity for guidance from members of CNN’s executive management team.

Participants are current members of at least one of six leading minority journalism organizations, including the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), the South Asian Journalist Association and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA).

“Over the past three years, CNN has contributed more than $1.2 million to the scholarship funds of the major minority journalism organizations to support the next generation of journalists and bring student journalists into the industry’s pipeline,” said Johnita Due, senior counsel for CNN Worldwide and chair of its Diversity Council. “With this Digital Media Workshop, we are able to have a lasting impact on top practicing journalists by sharing the cutting-edge skills necessary to remain relevant and to excel in this age of digital news.”



The 2008 CNN Digital Media Workshop participants and their affiliations include:

· Simone S. Bridges, producer, NYTimes.com (NABJ)

· Stanley B. Chambers, reporter, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. (NABJ)

· Erika Cebreros, associate editor, El Mensajero Newspaper (NAHJ)

· Florangela Davila, writer, lifestyle & culture, The Seattle Times (NAHJ)

· Jigsha Desai, online editor, Knoxnews.com/govolsxtra.com, Knoxville, Tenn. (NAHJ)

· Sara A. Fajardo, photographer, Orlando Sentinel (NAHJ)

· Sharon Ford-Dunn, associate professor, Grambling State University (NABJ)

· Mike Green, content editor, Ashland Daily Tidings, (NABJ)

· Amy Hsuan, staff writer, The Oregonian (AAJA)

· Ko W. Im, freelance news assistant, NY1 (AAJA)

· Joshua Johnson, anchor/reporter, WLRN/Miami Herald News (NLGJA)

· Elio Leturia, visual journalism class supervisor, Columbia College, Chicago (NAHJ)

· Natasha Mitchell, online editor, NewsOK.com/ The Oklahoman (NABJ)

· Victoria Lim, consumer reporter, WFLA-TV, Tampa, Fla. (AAJA)

· Daniel G. Morales, freelance journalist/writer, LaMusica.com, Revista monitor Latino, Quepasa.com (NLGJA)

· Ernesto Mourelo, assistant news director, KVEA Telemundo O&O (NAHJ)

· Franklin Robertson, multimedia editor, Chillicothe Gazette, Ohio (NAJA)

· Nina Sen, reporter, The Hour daily newspaper (SAJA)

· Vino Wong, photographer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AAJA)



CNN.com is the world’s No. 1 destination for online and wireless news, garnering the greatest audience share 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 an Edward R. Murrow award, a National Headliner award and two EPpy awards.

CNN Pressroom - CNN.com offers its latest innovation to CNN Worldwide’s multi-platform political coverage with the creation of a new online home for political junkies. The recently launched CNNPolitics.com melds the newsgathering strength and analytical expertise of the Emmy Award-winning Best Political Team on Television with the vast resources of CNN.com to create the Internet’s premier destination for political news and information.

“With CNNPolitics.com, everyone from the passionate follower to the first-time voter gets the benefit of the unrivaled insights and coverage from our reporters and analysts,” said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer of CNN.com.

“Users not only get the most up-to-the-minute political news from CNN’s array of correspondents but they also get behind-the-scenes details of how and why the news happened,” said Sam Feist, CNN’s political director.

CNNPolitics.com serves as a one-stop-shop for those who want to know everything going on inside the Beltway and beyond, particularly along the campaign trail. CNNPolitics.com features streaming live video from political events, interviews with top newsmakers, CNN’s comprehensive political video library, exclusive online reporting, user generated content and feedback from the audience. In keeping with CNN.com’s unmatched usability, all of the latest and most important political stories and video are easily accessible from the throughout the service – online and via CNN’s mobile distribution partners.

Also included as part of CNNPolitics.com are the in-depth Election Center special section and the popular Political Ticker blog. The Political Ticker provides a constant stream of political news – as it happens – from hundreds of CNN journalists, keeping users informed of the latest political news with dispatches 24 hours a day every day. The Election Center enables users to dig deeply into details about the candidates, their campaigns and their positions on the issues most important to voters and includes detailed coverage of debates, fund-raising and state-by-state analysis.

For a more light-hearted play at politics, users can match up 2008 candidates in a game of Presidential Pong, a political version of the famed video game, or check out the daily “Political Humor” area of the main page.

The launch of CNNPolitics.com is yet another step in CNN’s quest to re-energize and reinvent political coverage through bold innovations like the CNN/YouTube debates; the daily Situation Room, which has become can’t-miss political television; long-form specials like the Broken Government series; and the network’s ground-breaking mobile bureau, the CNN Election Express.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to 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.

CNN Pressroom - CNN.com has created an online memorial which honors the 32 victims of last week’s tragedy at Virginia Tech. The tribute, located at www.CNN.com/victims, also features profiles, photos and video of the individuals as well as thoughts and memories from family and friends.

"We recognize the need to enable our audience to learn who these men and women were, as well as to reveal how profound our shared loss truly is," said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and executive producer at CNN.com. "By providing a place for friends, family and colleagues to share their memories, we hope that we can contribute to the national healing and honor those who were felled in this mindless and horrible tragedy."

Online users may submit their own videos, photos or comments to honor the Virginia Tech victims through CNN's I-Report at www.cnn.com/vtechireport.

As the first Internet site dedicated to 24-hour news coverage, CNN.com attracts an average of more than 24 million unique users each month. Launched in 1995, CNN.com draws from the resources of CNN Worldwide to provide relevant, up-to-the minute news and information. CNN.com features the latest multimedia technologies, from video streaming and user-generated content to audio packages and searchable archives of news features and background information.