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Tag: CNN

  • CNN wins award at IBC for digital newsgathering

    MUMBAI: The International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam recently honoured CNN’s digital newsgathering operations with two of its IBC Innovation awards, including a ‘Judges’ Prize’ for the top innovation of the past year.

    CNN’s digital newsgathering also won for Content Creation, an award that cited the network’s use of such an innovation for its coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in July 2006.

    CNN Intl MD Tony Maddox says, “This is an amazing tribute to CNN’s often unsung heroes – our technical and satellite crews – whose ingenuity and tenacity in getting the job done shines through everyday at CNN,” said , managing director for .

    In presenting the awards, IBC judges recognised CNN for opening a new chapter in the use of technology in newsgathering through the use of lightweight kits that combine cameras, editing tools and advanced satellite and Internet communications technology into a laptop-based system. This suite of new technologies enable journalists to employ immediate live and video FTP submissions, real-time content monitoring, editing and voice communication from anywhere in the field.

    Jury chairman for the conference Mike Lumley says, “This is exactly the sort of project that deserves recognition. A major broadcaster had a clear idea of what it wanted to achieve and brought together a team of technical partners to make it happen. In a particularly strong field of entries this year, it was never going to be easy to pick a Judges’ Prize, but this is a most worthy winner.”

    For coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, CNN’s anchors broadcast mainly from various locations in the region using conventional uplink dishes allowing correspondents file live reports in remote areas using portable transmission gear they fit into backpacks. At the height of coverage, CNN had deployed about 90 journalists with programmes such as Anderson Cooper 360°, American Morning, The Situation Room, Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer and This Week at War all originating from the region. The result of this innovative approach took the story directly to the viewers from multiple angles as it unfolded.

  • NEC to sponsor CNN video blog

    MUMBAI: Under a new CNN initiative sponsored by NEC corporation, six men and women, wanting to make a difference in the world, will blog and post videos of their lives and jobs.

    Titled Be the Change, it aims to harness CNN International’s global reach, multiplatform services and cutting edge technology to reach deep into the lives of ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things around the world to benefit others.

    NEC’s sponsorship of Be the Change runs for a year from this month and is set to be broadcast worldwide while featuring online at www.cnn.com/bethechange

    The work of the six people and the global platform the initiative provides is expected to inspire others to make their own impact through similar ventures.

    CNN Asia Pacific VP news ad sales William Hsu says, “Be the Change is a fantastic initiative and we are delighted to have the support of NEC in this groundbreaking venture. To highlight and celebrate work that is rarely reported on and often barely visible to the larger community is hugely important and we hope that our global audience will share in these unique experiences.”

    NEC GM advertising division Junichi Shibi says, “Throughout its history, NEC has continuously sought ways to contribute to society through technological innovation and advanced solutions. NEC is proud to sponsor CNN’s Be the Change, which shares the goal of empowering people and societies around the world through innovative activity to effect change for the better.”

    Whether it’s building a sports complex for a disadvantaged community in South Africa, or aiding abused young people in Cambodia’s second largest city, the ‘Be the Change’ aid workers are committing their lives, their time and their energy to work for others.

    One video diary from a contributor will become a weekly segment on CNN International television, while blogs from each contributor will be hosted on a specially-produced web site, in addition to biographical sketches, links to their organizations and photo galleries. The site will be interactive, allowing visitors to comment and post questions to and for the contributors.

  • User generated content builds on CNN

    MUMBAI: When news broadcaster CNN first invited its global audience to submit their own pictures and video of the news of the day via cell phones, cameras and other devices, the first i-Reports offered included a photograph of bomb damage in Israel, a portrait of a U.S. soldier in Iraq and an image of a squirrel coping with a heat wave in the U.S. Midwest.

    One year later, CNN’s i-Report has garnered more than 50,000 submissions from 189 countries and territories around the world, ranging from compelling to light-hearted to tragic to amazing. CNN’s citizen journalism initiative now pulls in an average of about 7,000 i-Reports each month.

    CNN Worldwide executive VP content development and strategy Susan M. Bunda says, “With i-Report, CNN tapped into the needs and desires of its audience to express a deeper connection to the news they get from our networks and services each and every day. Our i-Reporters have exceeded our expectations in regards to the sheer number and quality of submissions.”

    Launched in August 2006, CNN’s i-Reports experienced growth within the first few months as both on-air and online audiences found a new way to express themselves and to share their own observations about CNN news coverage and events around the world. Hundreds submitted i-Reports after Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin died in September 2006. Later that month, when a coup in Thailand attempted to halt the flow of information with the shutdown of the national media, i-Reports ensured that photographs and text were seen by the rest of the world.

    CNN adds that its i-Report created an impression upon viewers on the morning of the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy in April, particularly when graduate student Jamal Albarghouti captured dramatic video on his cell phone. CNN received about 420 submissions within 24 hours of the incident, and more than 600 in total.

    More recently, users shared their video, images and thoughts after the bridge collapse in Minneapolis on 1 August. To date, CNN has received more than 600 i-Reports related to that incident.

    In addition to CNN/U.S. and CNN.com, networks and services across CNN Worldwide employ the submissions on a regular basis. CNN International and CNN en Español made extensive use of user-generated materials for coverage of recent protests in Venezuela. Taking the i-Reports as a cue, Headline News developed the first cable news program comprised of user-generated video with News To Me. Launched in May and hosted by award-winning actor/producer Eric Lanford, News to Me airs on Headline News each Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (ET).

    Viewers submit i-Report material through a “Send Your i-Report” link at CNN.com or by e-mail at ireport@cnn.com. Submitted material undergoes the same extensive vetting process CNN employs for all content that goes on air or online.

  • Iran launches English news channel

    MUMBAI: Iran’s state broadcaster has launched an English news channel Press TV, aiming to break the stranglehold of the West over the world’s media. Its competition ioncludes BBC, CNN, France 24 and AL Jazeera.

    The channel will focus on Middle East news. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been quopted in reports saying that the network should stand behind oppressed nations but not make up news in their favour.

    The channel would, thus, pave the way for people’s acquaintance with an alternative voice and view. Press TV programmes hover on half hour news bulletins, reports, live talk shows and documentaries.

  • CNN relaunches website with integrated features

    MUMBAI: News brpadcaster CNN has relaunched its site cnn.com. The aim is to be an intuitive, integrated Web site that puts users within a click of the global, international and local news and information they find most relevant to them.

    With the site’s enhancements and redesign, users can access the news of the day through a story package that provides text, images, video, related stories and user-generated content. Also, the live online video content that was available through the subscription-only CNN Pipeline becomes woven into the fabric of CNN.com and is available to all CNN.com users for free, making the service even more dynamic and user-friendly.

    CNN News Services executive VP Susan Grant says, “To simply describe this relaunch as a site redesign grossly understates what we’re doing at CNN.com. This goes beyond the next level of online news and jumps straight into a fully integrated experience in which articles, videos, images and user-generated content all come together to give users a more enriching, immediate interaction with the news content and information they need and want.”

    Improvements to CNN.com and its international edition include:

    • Integrated multimedia storytelling that puts text, videos, photos, maps, charts and more all accessible on one page. Tabbed elements allow easy access to a variety of media types, allowing users to determine themselves how they get the news they want.

    • Presentation of video has been improved. This includes CNN’s online video archive stretching across its 27 year history – all free of charge without need for downloads. A new on-demand video player offers a Flash-based, play-in-page experience complete with larger and higher quality video and tools to create playlists and provide feedback. A live player provides access to up to four live video streams, one of which is guided by CNN.com-exclusive news anchors – the only offering of its kind on the Web.

    • More ways for users to engage in news through feedback, content submissions from users with I-Report articles, video, photos and and blog commentaries.

    • Locally relevant content, allowing users to personalize CNN.com to offer enhanced weather forecasts and personalized local headlines. This content comes from various sources and content-sharing relationships, including CNN.com’s affiliates and the recently announced strategic alliance with Internet Broadcasting, the US’ largest publisher of TV station Web sites.

    • Links to content available on other news and information sites and blogs as part of CNN’s commitment to being a good web citizen.

    • Better TV promotion on the site to improve the complementarity of CNN’s TV and online services

    There is a Hot Topics section front that provides in-depth multi-media content based on timely, newsworthy stories; The All About pages give users access to an archive of stories that CNN.com – and other selected media sources – have published on almost any subject; The We Recommend feature, which presents users with stories and videos from CNN.com and other content partners based on the user’s past CNN.com browsing history.

    · “From the Blogs” feature, which aggregates comments from blogs around the Web discussing either a specific story or topics related to one published on CNN.com.

    · Highlights at the top of every article, which enable users to scan and digest story details quickly, and a “Next” link, which allows them to browse through story highlights quickly. CNN.com also directs users to related content, one way in which the site reveals connections between stories.

  • CNN, Internet Broadcasting enter news, advertising relationship

    MUMBAI: US news broadcaster CNN and Internet Broadcasting, which published TV station Web sites in the US, have entered into a strategic alliance. This combines Internet Broadcasting’s network of local news content with CNN’s global newsgathering resources.

    As part of the relationship, CNN and Internet Broadcasting will also create a unique advertising opportunity that leverages CNN.com’s national audience with Internet Broadcasting’s local reach. To reinforce the strategic alliance, CNN will acquire an equity stake in Internet Broadcasting, joining Hearst-Argyle Television, Post-Newsweek Stations, McGraw-Hill Broadcasting and Split Rock Partners as investors in the company.

    CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton says, “CNN’s global reporting attracts millions of online consumers to CNN.com for domestic and international news every day. Partnering with Internet Broadcasting adds another dimension – enhanced coverage of local news and events – and brings CNN reporting to
    significantly more people online.”

    As part of their agreement, the companies will share local, national and international content important to online news consumers. Leveraging its network of TV station Web sites, Internet Broadcasting will supply local news content to CNN.com, which will appear on the home page as well as in the “U.S. News” and “Weather” sections. In turn, national, political and international content from CNN.com will appear on the home page and national news pages of Internet Broadcasting sites.

    Internet Broadcasting founder and president Reid Johnson says, “Our partnership with CNN provides tremendous benefits for our online news consumers, station partners and advertisers. Our visitors expect the most up-to-date coverage of news that hits home from our award-winning online journalists who sit in the newsrooms of our partner stations. Now, our visitors gain access to one of the most trusted global news sources, CNN, on their local TV station Web site. Our advertisers also benefit by getting the best of both worlds – national reach and local relevance.”

    The companies will create an online advertising opportunity that will offer relevant, new ad platforms for clients by leveraging the broad national reach of CNN.com with the local and regional reach of Internet Broadcasting’s sites. Internet Broadcasting will offer select CNN.com ad placements as part of its nationwide, regional or market-by-market advertising packages.

  • CNN ties up with Suzuki for online football campaign

    MUMBAI: News broadcaster CNN is teaming up with Suzuki to launch ‘Football Fanzone’. This is an interactive online special where supporters worldwide can come together to share their love of the game at www.cnn.com/footballfanzone.

    The Football Fanzone allows users to check out the latest results, tables and other statistics. Features include ‘player of the week’ and ‘team of the week’, while CNN sports anchor Pedro Pinto’s exclusive ‘Goal Mouth’ blog will bring insights from behind the scenes – the scoops, the big interviews and all the gossip.

    In addition, fans can submit their pictures and videos as well as commentary which, if selected, will be posted on the site to be shared with millions of fellow fans around the world. Users can also cast their votes in polls and forums designed to gauge global reaction to hotly debated football issues.

    CNN ad sales Asia Pacific VP William Hsu says, “Football is without question the world’s most popular sport and we are delighted to launch this interactive forum in association with Suzuki Motor Corporation for millions of fans around the globe. CNN.com continues to lead the field in global online news sites and this new initiative allows Suzuki Motor Corporation perfect reach to our audience who enjoy high disposable incomes and are proven regular purchasers.”

  • CNN explores workplace of tech companies in show

    MUMBAI: News broadcaster CNN has announced that this month’s edition of its show Global Office sees Kristie Lu Stout reveal the future of the office as we know it, from interior design to working environments. She explores Silicon Valley and beyond and visits the world’s biggest tech companies to see how their workspaces score. The show airs on 19 May at 1 pm and 9:30 pm, 20 May at 5 pm and on 24 May at 7 pm.

    At the Googleplex — the headquarters of Google — the company’s chief cultural officer leads Kristie on a tour that goes some way to explaining why the company attracts an amazing 3,000 job applications a day from wannabe Googlers. Just down the road is the greenest office in the US, the headquarters of software giant Adobe. The company’s innovative efforts to be more environmentally friendly are not only good for the planet, but great for the bottom line, leaving an important lesson for businesses big and small the world over.

    Next stop is Intel. Despite advances in architectural office design, the reality for most office workers is the cubicle farm and Kristie meets Intel’s chief anthropologist, Dr Genevieve Bell, who reveals what fate may hold for the much-maligned office cubicle. Venturing north to Seattle and the home of Microsoft brings an exclusive look at the corporation’s vision of the future for consumers and its own employees.

    The show then turns the mirror on itself as British designer Tara B provides her candid thoughts on how the CNN London office could be revitalised.

  • Actress Shilpa Shetty to feature on CNN’s ‘Talk Asia’

    MUMBAI: Indian actress Shilpa Shetty will feature on CNN’s chat show Talk Asia on 12 May at 8:30 pm and on 13 May at 6:30 pm. She reveals why she is unrepentant about her public kiss with actor Richard Gere, what she learnt from her time in the Big Brother household, thoughts on her love life, film career and more.

    Reaction to Gere’s prolonged kiss ranged from amusement to outrage, but Shetty is admant that the extreme reactions from some do not reflect her country: “I would describe the ‘some’ as a lunatic fringe. And that is so not the sensibility of the majority of India”.

    The star also explains why she is relaxed at the thought of a potential six year jail sentence in the wake of the controversy before venting her frustration as to why effigies of Gere have been burned: “I don’t know if Richard is going to come back to the country, the losers…it’s us again as he was only trying to help us out.” As to those pursuing the litigations, she asks: “I want to actually ask them what they’ve done for us, what have they done for this country?”

    Shetty also talks about her time in the UK’s Big Brother household, where she reached “The lowest point in my life”. Despite this, she is convinced that to have walked out “Would be such a loser thing to do, to give up” and that her final victory “Was a huge victory as an Indian to have won something abroad”.

    Satinder also asks Shetty about her success in relationships, quizzing her on boyfriends, what dating her would entail and why she ultimately wants “A happy marriage and whatever it takes to achieve that”

  • CNN unveils global ‘CNN Heroes’ initiative

    MUMBAI: News broadcaster CNN has launched a global initiative to showcase CNN Heroes. These are ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary deeds in areas ranging from the environment to civil rights. Culminating in a year-end awards gala, the network will honor the most outstanding of viewer-submitted nominees from around the world. The “CNN Heroes” initiative is the first of its kind for the network.

    CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, along with an array of notable co-hosts to be announced later this year, will present the winners of “The CNN Hero Awards” during a special live global broadcast on 6 December. The gala will include musical performances and documentary tributes to those being honored as well as to their accomplishments and continued work.

    Walton said, “Our journalists come across these individuals every single day on the job, but they do not always get to tell these inspiring stories. With the help of our global audience, we turn the spotlight on those people who serve as an example of how a single person can make a difference.”

    From 1 May 2007 till September CNN’s networks and services, including CNN, Headline News and CNN.com, will feature examples of “everyday heroes” and encourage viewers to submit and nominate people in their own communities whom they find deserving of a CNN Hero Award. CNN International and CNN en Español will begin airing the profiles in June. Nomination forms will be available online at www.CNN.com/Heroes. A blue-ribbon panel will select the winners.

    Awards will be given in the following categories: “Defending the Planet,” innovative efforts to preserve and protect the environment; “Fighting for Justice,” advancing the cause of civil or equal rights; “Community Crusader,” creating solutions to a local program or social issue; “Medical Marvel,” dedication to the enhancement of human health; “Championing Children,” commitment to the welfare of young people; and “Young Wonder,” outstanding achievement by a person under the age of 18.