CNN

CNN

Country	United States
Headquarters	CNN Center Atlanta, Georgia
Programming
Language(s)	English
Ownership
Owner	Turner Broadcasting System

Cable News Network (CNN) is an American basic cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner.^[1] CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel.^[2] Upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage,^[3] and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.^[4]

While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from the Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta is only used for weekend programming. CNN is sometimes referred to as CNN/U.S. (or CNN Domestic^[5]) to distinguish the American channel from its international sister network, CNN International. As of August 2010, CNN is available in over 100 million U.S. households.^[6] Broadcast coverage of the U.S. channel extends to over 890,000 American hotel rooms,^[6] as well as carriage on cable and satellite providers throughout Canada. Globally, CNN programming airs through CNN International, which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories.^[7]

As of February 2015, CNN is available to about 96,289,000 cable, satellite, and telco television households (82.7% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.^[8]

The Cable News Network was launched at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channel's first newscast.^[9] Burt Reinhardt, the executive vice president of CNN at its launch, hired most of the channel's first 200 employees, including the network's first news anchor, Bernard Shaw.^[10]

Since its debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television providers, several websites, and specialized closed-circuit channels (such as CNN Airport). The company has 42 bureaus (11 domestic, 31 international),^[11] more than 900 affiliated local stations (which also receive news and features content via the video newswire service CNN Newsource),^[12] and several regional and foreign-language networks around the world.^[13] The channel's success made a bona-fide mogul of founder Ted Turner^[14] and set the stage for conglomerate Time Warner's eventual acquisition of the Turner Broadcasting System in 1996.^[15]

A companion channel, CNN2, was launched on January 1, 1982^[16] and featured a continuous 24-hour cycle of 30-minute news broadcasts.^[17] The channel, which later became known as CNN Headline News and is now known as simply HLN, eventually focused on live news coverage supplemented by personality-based programs during the evening and primetime hours.

The first Persian Gulf War in 1991 was a watershed event for CNN that catapulted the channel past the "Big Three" American networks for the first time in its history, largely due to an unprecedented, historical scoop: CNN was the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq during the initial hours of the Coalition bombing campaign, with live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad by reporters Bernard Shaw, John Holliman and Peter Arnett.

File:CNN Gulf War nightscope January 1991.jpg

The moment when bombing began was announced on CNN by Shaw on January 16, 1991, as follows:^[18]

This is Bernie Shaw. Something is happening outside. ... Peter Arnett, join me here. Let's describe to our viewers what we're seeing... The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. ... We're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.

Because it was unable to immediately broadcast live pictures from Baghdad, CNN's coverage of the initial hours of the Gulf War had the dramatic feel of a radio broadcast – and was compared to legendary CBS news anchor Edward R. Murrow's gripping live radio reports of the German bombing of London during World War II.^[19] Despite the lack of live pictures, CNN's coverage was carried by television stations and networks around the world, resulting in CNN being watched by over a billion viewers worldwide.^[20]

The Gulf War experience brought CNN some much sought-after legitimacy and made household names of previously obscure reporters. In 2000, media scholar and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, Robert Thompson, stated that having turned 20, CNN was now the "old guard."^[21] Shaw, known for his live-from-Bagdhad reporting during the Gulf War, became CNN's chief anchor until his retirement in 2001.^[22][23] Others include then-Pentagon correspondent Wolf Blitzer (now host of The Situation Room) and international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour's presence in Iraq was caricatured by actress Nora Dunn in the role of the ruthless reporter Adriana Cruz in the 1999 film Three Kings. Time Warner-owned sister network HBO later produced a television movie, Live from Baghdad, about CNN's coverage of the first Gulf War.

Coverage of the first Gulf War and other crises of the early 1990s (particularly the infamous Battle of Mogadishu) led officials at the Pentagon to coin the term "the CNN effect" to describe the perceived impact of real time, 24-hour news coverage on the decision-making processes of the American government.

CNN was the first cable news channel to break the news of the September 11 attacks.^[24] Anchor Carol Lin was on the air to deliver the first public report of the event. She broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. Eastern Time that morning and said:

This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

Sean Murtagh, CNN vice president of finance and administration, was the first network employee on the air. He called into CNN Center from his office at CNN's New York City bureau and reported that a commercial jet had hit the Trade Center.^[25]

Daryn Kagan and Leon Harris were live on the air just after 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time as the second plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center and through an interview with CNN correspondent David Ensor, reported the news that U.S. officials determined "that this is a terrorist act."^[26] Later, Aaron Brown and Judy Woodruff anchored through the day and night as the attacks unfolded, winning an Edward R. Murrow award for the network.^[27] Brown had just joined CNN from ABC to serve as the breaking news anchor.

CNN has made archival files of much of the day's broadcast available in five segments, plus an overview.

Leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, CNN devoted large amounts of its coverage to politics, including hosting candidate debates during the Democratic and Republican primary seasons. On June 3 and 5, CNN teamed up with Saint Anselm College to sponsor the New Hampshire Republican and Democratic Debates.^[28] Later in 2007, the channel hosted the first CNN-YouTube presidential debates, a non-traditional format where viewers were invited to pre-submit questions over the internet via the YouTube video-sharing service.^[29] In 2008, CNN partnered with the Los Angeles Times to host two primary debates leading up to its coverage of Super Tuesday.^[30] CNN's debate and election night coverage led to its highest ratings of the year, with January 2008 viewership averaging 1.1 million viewers, a 41% increase over the previous year.^[30]

Driven by live coverage of the year's US presidential election, 2016 was CNN's most-watched year in its history.^[31] Throughout the campaign, the network aired unedited coverage of many of the Trump campaign rallies. Aides for Republican candidates Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Ted Cruz accused CNN president Jeff Zucker of undermining their candidates during the Republican primaries.^[32] Zucker acknowledged that it had been a mistake to air so many of the campaign rallies.^[33] CNN also drew criticism during the election for hiring former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was still being paid by and was effectively working on behalf of the campaign.^[34]

On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $108.7 billion. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would bring Time Warner's properties, including CNN, under the same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV.^[35][36]

CNN's current weekday schedule consists mostly of rolling news programming during daytime hours, followed by in-depth news and factual programs during the evening and primetime hours.

The network's morning programming consists of Early Start, an early-morning news program hosted by Christine Romans and Dave Briggs at 4–6 a.m. ET, which is followed by New Day, the network's morning show, hosted by Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota at 6–9 a.m. ET. Most of CNN's late-morning and early afternoon programming consists of CNN Newsroom, a rolling news program hosted by John Berman and Poppy Harlow in the morning and Brooke Baldwin in the afternoon. In between the editions of Newsroom, At This Hour with Kate Bolduan at 11 a.m. to noon Eastern, followed by Inside Politics with John King, hosted by John King at noon Eastern, and Wolf with Wolf Blitzer at 1 p.m. Eastern.^[37]

CNN's late afternoon and early evening lineup consists of The Lead with Jake Tapper, hosted by Jake Tapper at 4 p.m. Eastern and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, hosted by Wolf Blitzer at 5–7 p.m. ET. The network's evening and primetime lineup shifts towards more in-depth programming, including Erin Burnett OutFront at 7 p.m. ET,^[38] and Anderson Cooper 360° at 8–10 p.m. ET, followed by CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, hosted by Don Lemon at 10 p.m. to midnight Eastern.

The network's overnight programming consists of CNN International program CNN Newsroom, Monday at 2–4 a.m. ET, and Tuesday through Friday at 12–4 a.m. ET.

CNN launched new series in the 9p.m. ET timeslot for the 2014–15 season, such as John Walsh's The Hunt, This is Life with Lisa Ling, and Mike Rowe's Somebody's Gotta Do It. Jeff Zucker explained that this new lineup was intended to shift CNN away from a reliance on pundit-oriented programs, and attract younger demographics to the network. Despite this, Zucker emphasized a continuing commitment to news programming, as the 9 p.m. hour can be pre-empted as needed for expanded coverage of news events. These changes coincided with the introduction of a new imaging campaign for the network, featuring the slogan "Go there".^[39][40][41] In May 2014, CNN premiered The Sixties, a documentary miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman which chronicled the United States in the 1960s. Owing to its success, CNN would produce sequels focusing on the 1970s and 1980s for 2015 and 2016 respectively.^[42][43]

Weekend primetime is dedicated mostly to factual programming, including the reality series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, along with topical documentaries and specials under banners such as CNN Presents, CNN Special Investigations Unit and CNN Films. The network's weekend morning programming consists of CNN Newsroom (simulcast from CNN International) at 4–6 a.m. ET, which is followed by the weekend editions of New Day, hosted by Christi Paul and Victor Blackwell, which airs every Saturday at 6–9 a.m. ET and Sunday at 6–8 a.m. ET and the network's Saturday program Smerconish with Michael Smerconish at 9 a.m. Eastern and replay at 6 p.m. Eastern. Sunday morning lineup consists primarily of political talk shows, including Inside Politics with John King, hosted by John King at 8 a.m. Eastern and State of the Union, hosted by Jake Tapper at 9 a.m. Eastern and replay at noon Eastern, and the international affairs program Fareed Zakaria GPS, hosted by Fareed Zakaria at 10 a.m. Eastern and replay at 1 p.m. Eastern, and the media analysis program Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter, hosted by Brian Stelter at 11 a.m. Eastern.

CNN began broadcasting in the high definition 1080i resolution format in September 2007.^[44] This format is now standard for CNN and is available on all major cable and satellite providers.

CNN's political coverage in HD was first given mobility by the introduction of the CNN Election Express bus in October 2007. The Election Express vehicle, capable of five simultaneous HD feeds, was used for the channel's CNN-YouTube presidential debates and for presidential candidate interviews.^[45]

In December 2008, CNN introduced a comprehensive redesign of its on-air appearance, which replaced an existing style that had been used since 2004. On-air graphics took a rounded, flat look in a predominantly black, white, and red color scheme, and the introduction of a new box next to the CNN logo for displaying show logos and segment-specific graphics, rather than as a large banner above the lower-third. The redesign also replaced the scrolling ticker with a static "flipper", which could either display a feed of news headlines (both manually inserted and taken from the RSS feeds of CNN.com), or "topical" details related to a story.^[46][47]

CNN's next major redesign was introduced on January 10, 2011, replacing the dark, flat appearance of the 2008 look with a glossier, blue and white color scheme, and moving the secondary logo box to the opposite end of the screen. Additionally, the network began to solely produce its programming in the 16:9 aspect ratio, with standard definition feeds using a letterboxed version of the HD feed.^[47] On February 18, 2013, the "flipper" was dropped and reverted to a scrolling ticker; originally displayed as a blue background with white text, the ticker was reconfigured a day later with blue text on a white background to match the look of the 'flipper'.^[48]

On August 11, 2014, CNN introduced its most recent graphics package, dropping the glossy appearance for a flat, rectangular scheme incorporating red, white, and black colors, and the Gotham typeface. The ticker now alternates between general headlines and financial news from CNNMoney, and the secondary logo box was replaced with a smaller box below the CNN bug, which displays either the title, hashtag, or Twitter handle for the show being aired or its anchor.^[49] In April 2016, CNN began to introduce a new corporate typeface, known as "CNN Sans", across all of its platforms. Inspired by Helvetica Neue and commissioned after consultations with Troika Design Group, the font family consists of 30 different versions with varying weights and widths to facilitate use across print, television, and digital mediums.^[50]

In August 2016, CNN announced the launch of its new initiative, CNN Aerial Imagery and Reporting (CNN AIR). It is a drone-based news collecting operation to integrate aerial imagery and reporting across all CNN networks and platforms, along with Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner entities.^[51]

Program	Terms	Description
AC360° Later	2013–2014	An occasional spin-off of Anderson Cooper 360° that featured panel discussions on recent events led by Cooper. After being faced with irregular and inconsistent scheduling (sometimes being replaced by factual programs or reruns of the evening's earlier broadcast of AC360° in its 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time slot), it was discontinued in February 2014.[52]
American Morning	2001–2011	A weekday morning news program which aired from 6–9 a.m. Eastern Time. Replaced by Starting Point.
Around the World	2013–2014	An hour-long weekday news program that focused on international headlines, and was anchored by Suzanne Malveaux and Michael Holmes. Replaced by Legal View.[53]
Ballot Bowl	2008	An election news program focused on the 2008 Presidential and (occasionally) Congressional races.
Both Sides with Jesse Jackson	1992–2000	A political talk show, hosted by civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, that aired on Sundays. Each program began with a short taped report on the topic by CNN correspondent John Bisney. The show ran from 1992 to 2000.[54]
Burden of Proof	1995–2001	A show that discussed the legal issues of the day, hosted by Greta Van Susteren and Roger Cossack.
Campbell Brown	2008–2010	A political debate show hosted by Campbell Brown. The program ended after Brown resigned from CNN.
Capital Gang	1988–2005	One of cable news' longest-running programs, focusing on discussions of the week's political news stories. The original panelists were Pat Buchanan, Al Hunt, Mark Shields and Robert Novak. When Buchanan left CNN to run for president, Margaret Warner, Mona Charen and later Margaret Carlson and Kate O'Beirne became regular panelists. Capital Gang aired Saturday nights at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time from 1988 to 2005.
CNN Daybreak	1980–2005	A first look at the day's stories that aired live from New York City at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
CNN Live Saturday / CNN Live Sunday	Unknown–2006	A weekend news and analysis program, airing live from Atlanta. Anchored by Fredricka Whitfield from 12:00–6:00 p.m. Eastern Time and Carol Lin from 6:00–11:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Replaced in 2006 by CNN Newsroom Weekend.
CNN Live Today	2001–2006	A program that provided a daily look at current news stories, airing live from Atlanta Monday through Friday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Anchored by Daryn Kagan.
CNN NewsSite	2001	A news program which incorporated participation via the internet; based out of Atlanta, it was anchored by Joie Chen that aired Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
CNN Saturday Night / CNN Sunday Night	Unknown–2006	The channel's weekend evening news program, airing at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time and anchored by Carol Lin. Replaced in 2006 by CNN Newsroom Weekend.
CNN Sports Sunday		Co-anchored by Bob Kurtz and Nick Charles.
Computer Connection		A program focusing on issues and advancements in the computer industry.
Crossfire	First aired from 1982 to 2005, and again from 2013 to 2014	Crossfire was a nightly current events debate television program that aired on CNN for many years. The show's format was designed to present and challenge the opinions of a politically liberal pundit, and a conservative pundit.
Connie Chung Tonight	2002–2003	A news and analysis program, hosted by Connie Chung. Cancelled in March 2003.
Diplomatic License	1994–2006	A weekly program on CNN International hosted by Richard Roth, focusing on the United Nations.
Evans and Novak	1980–2002	Saturday night political interview program hosted by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak. The show's title was changed to Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields in 1998 when Al Hunt and Mark Shields became permanent panelists. Following Evans' death in 2001, the title was changed to Novak, Hunt & Shields, which remained until its cancellation.
First Evening News	2001	A half-hour news program was anchored by Bill Hemmer, originally airing at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time when it debuted in June 2001 before moving to 7:00 p.m. the following month, where it remained until it ended on September 10, 2001.
Freeman Reports	1980–1985	One of the channel's original programs from 1980. Host Sandi Freeman interviewed guests and took live telephone call-ins regarding current news events and other topics of interest. For a brief period, the program featured a live audience based in Atlanta. The program's former timeslot was later occupied by Larry King Live.
Future Watch		A program focusing on issues and advancements in the technological industry.
(Get To) The Point	2013	A panel discussion program featuring Donny Deutsch, Rick Reilly, Margaret Hoover and Jason Taylor; announced and premiered on April 1, 2013 as a week-long trial.[55]
Global View	1994–1999	International policy interview show hosted by world affairs correspondent Ralph Begleiter, aired weekly on CNN (1994–1995) and CNN International (1994–1999). Each edition began with a story package on the subject by Begleiter, followed by a lengthy interview with international figure and ended with a brief "Reporter's Notebook" segment, featuring insider tidbits from the host's extensive travels covering global politics.
Greenfield at Large	2001–2002	A half-hour weeknight news analysis program that was anchored by Jeff Greenfield and based in New York City.
In the Arena	2010–2011	Originally titled Parker Spitzer and hosted by Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer, the hour-long early primetime program featured discussions on the day's news with top journalists and contributors.
John King, USA	2010–2012	Hosted by John King, the program discussed the day's political news.
Larry King Live	1985–2010	Hosted by Larry King, the hour-long interview program was CNN's longest running program as well as its most watched, with over one million viewers nightly.[56]
Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer	1993–2009	Hosted by Wolf Blitzer, the program is "the last word in Sunday talk" and a prime source for front-page news on Monday morning. "Late Edition" offers a superior combination of thorough interviews with top newsmakers and expert discussion.
Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield	2013–2016	A weekday legal stories program, hosted by Ashleigh Banfield.
Live From...		A weekday early afternoon newscast, airing live from Atlanta, featuring a lively look at the day's stories. Anchored by Kyra Phillips.
Live From The Headlines	2003	Hosted by Paula Zahn, the two-hour primetime show (airing from 7:00–9:00 p.m. Eastern Time) debuted at the same time Zahn moved from her previous morning slot;[57] it was later co-hosted by Anderson Cooper. The program was replaced by Paula Zahn Now in 2003.
Lou Dobbs Tonight	1980–2009	Anchored by Lou Dobbs, the business news and analysis program originally aired as Moneyline before relaunching as Lou Dobbs Tonight in 2003.
NewsNight with Aaron Brown	2001–2005	A hard-news program anchored by Aaron Brown, which took an in-depth look at the main U.S. and international stories of the day. Was cancelled on November 5, 2005, leading to Brown's immediate resignation from CNN.
Newsstand	1999–2001	A weeknight newsmagazine series.
Next@CNN	2002–2005	A weekend science and technology oriented program, hosted by Daniel Sieberg.
On the Story	Unknown–2006	Anchored by Ali Velshi, it was CNN's interactive "week-in-review" series featuring an in-depth look at the story behind some of the week's biggest stories. However, the show was suspended in June 2006, and was later cancelled that July.
Paula Zahn Now	2003–2007	A newsmagazine that featured a look at the current issues affecting the world, with former CBS and Fox News anchor Paula Zahn. The program ended on August 2, 2007.
People in the News	2001–2005	A feature-formatted weekend program produced in conjunction with People magazine, which profiled newsmakers from the worlds of politics, sports, business, medicine and entertainment. The program aired on and was first hosted by Daryn Kagan and later by Paula Zahn.
People Now	1980–Unknown	An live hour-long program, based at the CNN Los Angeles bureau, featuring celebrity interviews and discussions on entertainment news stories. Originally hosted by Lee Leonard, the program was later hosted by Mike Douglas, who himself was replaced by Bill Tush in December 1982.
Piers Morgan Live	2011–2014	An hour-long weeknight interview program hosted by Piers Morgan (which was broadcast live on most nights, with some pre-recorded broadcasts), often featuring celebrity interviews; serving as a replacement for Larry King Live, the program ended on March 28, 2014.
Pinnacle	Unknown–2004	A business program, hosted by Tom Cassidy, featuring news and interviews with industry leaders.
The Point with Greta Van Susteren	2001–2002	A primetime news and interview program, hosted by Greta Van Susteren. Canceled when Van Susteren moved to Fox News Channel.
Rick's List	2010	Anchored by Rick Sanchez, the two-hour afternoon program featured discussions of the day's news with interaction from viewers via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Sanchez was fired from the channel after making controversial statements about Jewish people on a radio show (see Controversy for further details).
Sanjay Gupta MD	2013–2014	Medical news program hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, airs Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7:30 a.m. eastern.
Science and Technology Week	Unknown–2001[58]	A weekly half-hour program featuring scientific and technology reports and commentary on the week's news headlines on those subjects. Anchored most recently by Miles O'Brien.
Sonya / Sonya Live in L.A.	1987–1994	A weekday call-in show airing at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the late 1980s and early 1990s, hosted by Dr. Sonya Friedman.
The Spin Room	2001	A half-hour weeknight primetime political talk show hosted by Tucker Carlson and Bill Press.
Sports Tonight	1980–2001	A nightly sports news program co-anchored by Nick Charles and Fred Hickman.
Starting Point	2012–2013	A two-hour weekday morning news program, anchored by Soledad O'Brien. Replaced by New Day.
Style with Elsa Klensch	1980–2000	A weekly half-hour Saturday morning program that featured news on style and fashion.
TalkBack Live	1994–2003	A call-in talk show with a live audience; originally hosted by Susan Rook, its subsequent hosts were Bobbie Battista, Karyn Bryant, and Arthel Neville.
Wolf Blitzer Reports	2001–2005	An hour-long late afternoon program, broadcast live from the Washington D.C. bureau, featuring a look at the day's news stories. Replaced by The Situation Room in 2005.
Unguarded with Rachel Nichols	2013–2014	CNN's weekly sports show hosted by Rachel Nichols, airs Friday nights at 10:30 eastern and pacific.
Your Health		A weekend afternoon program focusing on health news.

On July 27, 2012, CNN president Jim Walton announced that he was quitting, after a 30-year tenure at the network. Walton remained with CNN until the end of that year.^[59] In January 2013, former NBCUniversal president Jeff Zucker replaced Walton.^[60]

On January 29, 2013, longtime political analysts James Carville and Mary Matalin, and fellow political contributor Erick Erickson were let go by CNN.^[61]

File:CNN Website April 2011.png

CNN launched its website, CNN.com (initially an experiment known as CNN Interactive), on August 30, 1995. The site attracted growing interest over its first decade and is now one of the most popular news websites in the world. The widespread growth of blogs, social media and user-generated content have influenced the site, and blogs in particular have focused CNN's previously scattershot online offerings, most noticeably in the development and launch of CNN Pipeline in late 2005.

In April 2009, CNN.com ranked third place among online global news sites in unique users in the U.S., according to Nielsen/NetRatings; with an increase of 11% over the previous year.^[62]

CNN Pipeline was the name of a paid subscription service, its corresponding website, and a content delivery client that provided streams of live video from up to four sources (or "pipes"), on-demand access to CNN stories and reports, and optional pop-up "news alerts" to computer users. The installable client was available to users of PCs running Microsoft Windows. There was also a browser-based "web client" that did not require installation. The service was discontinued in July 2007, and was replaced with a free streaming service.

The topical news program Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics was the first CNN program to feature a round-up of blogs in 2005.^[63] Blog coverage was expanded when Inside Politics was folded into The Situation Room (Inside Politics later returned to CNN in 2014, this time hosted by the network's chief national correspondent John King.^[64]). In 2006, CNN launched CNN Exchange and CNN iReport, initiatives designed to further introduce and centralize the impact of everything from blogging to citizen journalism within the CNN brand. CNN iReport which features user-submitted photos and video, has achieved considerable traction, with increasingly professional-looking reports filed by amateur journalists, many still in high school or college. The iReport gained more prominence when observers of the Virginia Tech shootings sent-in first hand photos of what was going on during the shootings.^[65]

In early 2008, CNN began maintaining a live streaming broadcast available to cable and satellite subscribers who receive CNN at home (a precursor to the TV Everywhere services that would become popularized by cable and satellite providers beginning with Time Warner's incorporation of the medium).^[66] CNN International is broadcast live, as part of the RealNetworks SuperPass subscription service outside the U.S. CNN also offers several RSS feeds and podcasts.

On April 18, 2008, CNN.com was targeted by Chinese hackers in retaliation for the channel's coverage on the 2008 Tibetan unrest. CNN reported that they took preventative measures after news broke of the impending attack.^[67][68]

The company was honored at the 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for development and implementation of an integrated and portable IP-based live, edit and store-and-forward digital news gathering (DNG) system.^[69] The first use of what would later win CNN this award was in April 2001 when CNN correspondent Lisa Rose Weaver^[70] covered, and was detained,^[71] for the release of the U.S. Navy crew of a damaged electronic surveillance plane after the Hainan Island incident. The technology consisted of a videophone produced by 7E Communications Ltd of London, UK.^[72] This DNG workflow is used today by the network to receive material worldwide using an Apple MacBook Pro, various prosumer and professional digital cameras, software from Streambox Inc., and BGAN terminals from Hughes Network Systems.

On October 24, 2009, CNN launched a new version of the CNN.com website; the revamped site included the addition of a new "sign up" option, in which users can create their own username and profile, and a new "CNN Pulse" (beta) feature, along with a new red color theme.^[73] However, most of the news stories archived on the website were deleted. As of 2016, there are four versions of the website: the American version, the International version, the Spanish version, and the Arabic version. Readers can choose their preferred version, but, in the absence of a selection, the server determines an edition according to the requesting IP address.^{[citation needed]}

CNN also has a channel in the popular video-sharing site YouTube, but its videos can only be viewed in the United States, a source of criticism among YouTube users worldwide. In 2014, CNN launched a radio version of their popular Television programming on TuneIn Radio.^[74]

In April 2010, CNN announced via Twitter that it would launch a food blog called "Eatocracy," which will "cover all news related to food – from recalls to health issues to culture."^[75] CNN had an internet relay chat (IRC) network at chat.cnn.com. CNN placed a live chat with Benjamin Netanyahu on the network in 1998.^[76]

CNNHealth consists of expert doctors answering viewers' questions online at CNN's "The Chart" blog website. Contributors include Drs. Sanjay Gupta (Chief Medical Correspondent), Charles Raison (Mental Health Expert), Otis Brawley (Conditions Expert), Melina Jampolis (Diet and Fitness Expert), Jennifer Shu (Living Well Expert), and Elizabeth Cohen (Senior Medical Correspondent).^[77]

On March 7, 2017, CNN announced the official launch of its virtual reality unit named CNNVR. It will produce 360 videos to its Android and iOS apps within CNN Digital.^[78][79] It is planning to cover major news events with the online, and digital news team in New York City, Atlanta, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Dubai, Johannesburg, Tokyo, and Beijing.^[80]

On November 28, 2016, CNN announced the acquisition of Beme for a reported $25 million. ^[81] On November 29, 2016, Matt Hackett, co-founder of Beme, announced via an email to its users that the Beme app would be shutting down on January 31, 2017.^[82] Since the shutdown of the app, it was announced that CNN intended to use the current talent behind Beme to work on a separate start-up endeavor. Beme's current team will retain full creative control of the new project which is slated to release in the summer of 2017.^[83] Beme have also brought on other internet stars such as the host of Vsauce 3, Jake Roper, as Head of production, who features prominently in Beme's co-founder, Casey Neistat's vlogs.^[84]

In October 2012, CNN formed a film division called CNN Films to distribute and produce made-for-TV and feature documentaries. Its first acquisition was a documentary entitled Girl Rising, a documentary narrated by Meryl Streep that focused on the struggles of girls' education.^[85]

In July 2014, Cumulus Media announced that it would end its partnership with ABC News Radio, and enter into a new partnership with CNN to syndicate national and international news content for its stations through Westwood One beginning in 2015, including access to a wire service, and digital content for its station websites. This service is unbranded, allowing individual stations to integrate the content with their own news brands.^[86]

Over the years, CNN has launched spin-off networks in the United States and other countries. Channels that currently operate as of 2014^[update] include:

• CNN Airport
• CNN Chile – a Chilean news channel that launched on December 4, 2008.
• CNN en Español
• CNN International
• CNN TÜRK – a Turkish media outlet.
• CNN-IBN – an Indian news channel.
• CNN Indonesia – an Indonesian news channel that launched on August 17, 2015. (co-owned with Trans Corp)
• CNNj – a Japanese news outlet.
• CNN Philippines – a Filipino news channel launched on March 16, 2015.
• HLN

CNN has also launched television and online ventures that are no longer in operation, including:

• CNN Checkout Channel (out-of-home place-based custom channel for grocery stores that started in 1991 and shuttered in 1993)
• CNN Italia^[87] (an Italian news website launched in partnership with the publishing company Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, and after with the financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, it launched on November 15, 1999^[88][89] and closed on September 12, 2003)
• CNN Pipeline (24-hour multi-channel broadband online news service, replaced with CNN.com Live)
• CNN Sports Illustrated (also known as CNNSI; U.S. sports news channel, closed in 2002)
• CNN+ (a partner channel in Spain, launched in 1999 with Sogecable)
• CNN.com Live
• CNNfn (financial channel, closed in December 2004)

CNN launched two specialty news channels for the American market which would later close amid competitive pressure: the sports news channel CNNSI shut down in 2002, while business news channel CNNfn shut down after nine years on the air in December 2004. CNN had a partnership with Sports Illustrated through the sports website CNNSI.com, but sold the domain name in May 2015.^[90] CNNfn's former website now redirects to money.cnn.com, a product of CNN's strategic partnership with Money magazine. Money and Sports Illustrated were both Time Warner properties until 2014, when the company's magazine division was spun off into the separate Time Inc.

CNN operates bureaus in the following cities as of February 2017^[update].^[91] Boldface indicates that the city is home to one of CNN's original bureaus, meaning it has been in operation since the network's founding.

• Atlanta (World Headquarters)
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Denver
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New York City
• San Francisco
• Washington, D.C.

CNN has regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and London. Other bureau locations include:

In parts of the world without a CNN bureau, reports from local affiliate station the network will be used to file a story.

In a joint study by the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University and the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the authors found disparate treatment by the three major cable channels of Republican and Democratic candidates during the earliest five months of presidential primaries in 2007:

The CNN programming studied tended to cast a negative light on Republican candidates – by a margin of three-to-one. Four-in-ten stories (41%) were clearly negative while just 14% were positive and 46% were neutral. The network provided negative coverage of all three main candidates with McCain faring the worst (63% negative) and Romney faring a little better than the others only because a majority of his coverage was neutral. It's not that Democrats, other than Obama, fared well on CNN either. Nearly half of the Illinois Senator's stories were positive (46%), vs. just 8% that were negative. But both Clinton and Edwards ended up with more negative than positive coverage overall. So while coverage for Democrats overall was a bit more positive than negative, that was almost all due to extremely favorable coverage for Obama.^[92]

CNN President Walter Isaacson met with Republican Party leaders in Washington, DC in 2001 saying afterwards "I was trying to reach out to a lot of Republicans who feel that CNN has not been as open covering Republicans, and I wanted to hear their concerns,"^[93] As said by CNN founder Ted Turner, "There really isn't much of a point getting some Tom, Dick or Harry off the streets to report on when we can snag a big name whom everyone identifies with. After all, it's all part of the business." However, in April 2008, Turner criticized the direction that CNN has taken.^[94]

In October 2016, WikiLeaks published emails from John Podesta which showed CNN contributor Donna Brazile passing the questions for a CNN-sponsored debate to the Clinton campaign.^[95] In the email, Brazile discussed her concern of Clinton's ability to field a question regarding the death penalty. The following day Clinton would receive the question about the death penalty, verbatim from an audience member at the CNN-hosted Town Hall event.^[96] According to a CNNMoney investigation, the debate moderator Roland Martin of TV One "did not deny sharing information with Brazile."^[97] CNN severed ties with Brazile on October 14, 2016.^[98][99]. CNN has been accused of bias during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election between now 45th U.S. President Donald Trump (who has targeted the network multiple times) and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.^[100]. U.S. President Donald Trump openly referred to CNN as the "Clinton News Network" during the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference.^[101]

On June 26, 2017, CNN made widespread headlines after accepting the resignations of three network investigative journalists working with their company; Thomas Frank, Eric Lichtblau, and Lex Haris. All three journalists chose to resign from CNN over a retracted President Trump-Russia story, published on the CNN website, that incorrectly connected Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci to a $10 billion Russian investment fund. The network apologized to Scaramucci and admitted that the online story did not meet their editorial standards.^[102]. CEO Jeff Zucker responded by stressing that the network needs to "play error-free ball" when it comes to any future stories about President Donald Trump. ^[103].

In 1998, CNN received the Four Freedom Award for the Freedom of Speech.^[104]

• Official website
• CNN at the Wayback Machine (archived August 15, 2000)