Saturday, December 03, 2005
CNN PipeLine to Launch Monday
Source: AJC CNN is gearing up for its next foray in the new world of media: an online service that will feature the network's first extensive use of live video on the Internet.
CNN will launch the new service, dubbed Pipeline, on Monday. Unlike CNN's current Web products, which lean on text or video snippets that aren't live, Pipeline will feature four video streams. The service, in development since September 2004, has its own staff, studio and news anchors at CNN Center in Atlanta.
"You can't find anything like this on the Web," said David Payne, senior vice president of CNN News Services and general manager of CNN.com.
One goal is to get people to use CNN Pipeline on their computers while at work, especially if they don't have a TV nearby. Pipeline also is meant to have a much different feel than CNN or CNN Headline News. Among other things, CNN Pipeline will feature raw video — of the latest car chase, weather disaster or congressional hearing — with relatively little commentary from anchors.
The trick: getting users to both understand the new service and then pay for it. In an environment where most online news is free, CNN plans to charge about $25 a year for Pipeline. The content won't include any ads.
MORE
Additional: Pipeline control room equipped for future
DCG Notes: Take it from me, someone who help beta test this product a couple of weeks ago, CNN PipeLine ROCKS. PipeLine features CNN/International programming during primetime AND on the weekends. PipeLine truely is news and information at your fingertips. I can't wait to pay CNN my $25. CNN Pipeline has its own anchors, LIVE in the studio anchoring a newscast. The newscast features the reporters/correspondents you see on CNN/US doing LIVE reports during the newscasts. It really came in handy during the weekends when ducumentaries are on CNN/US channel and NEWS on CNN Pipeline. PipleLine features a 24/7 weather feed as well. Can't wait til Monday to subscribe.
CNN will launch the new service, dubbed Pipeline, on Monday. Unlike CNN's current Web products, which lean on text or video snippets that aren't live, Pipeline will feature four video streams. The service, in development since September 2004, has its own staff, studio and news anchors at CNN Center in Atlanta.
"You can't find anything like this on the Web," said David Payne, senior vice president of CNN News Services and general manager of CNN.com.
One goal is to get people to use CNN Pipeline on their computers while at work, especially if they don't have a TV nearby. Pipeline also is meant to have a much different feel than CNN or CNN Headline News. Among other things, CNN Pipeline will feature raw video — of the latest car chase, weather disaster or congressional hearing — with relatively little commentary from anchors.
The trick: getting users to both understand the new service and then pay for it. In an environment where most online news is free, CNN plans to charge about $25 a year for Pipeline. The content won't include any ads.
MORE
Additional: Pipeline control room equipped for future
DCG Notes: Take it from me, someone who help beta test this product a couple of weeks ago, CNN PipeLine ROCKS. PipeLine features CNN/International programming during primetime AND on the weekends. PipeLine truely is news and information at your fingertips. I can't wait to pay CNN my $25. CNN Pipeline has its own anchors, LIVE in the studio anchoring a newscast. The newscast features the reporters/correspondents you see on CNN/US doing LIVE reports during the newscasts. It really came in handy during the weekends when ducumentaries are on CNN/US channel and NEWS on CNN Pipeline. PipleLine features a 24/7 weather feed as well. Can't wait til Monday to subscribe.
# posted by ATN @ 9:49 PM 
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Grace Leads the Way on Another Missing Woman Case
Last night’s broadcast of CNN Headline News’ NANCY GRACE featured the first network coverage of the Christine Rudy case. Mrs. Rudy, 6 months pregnant, disappeared from Thorp, WI, on November 12, when her husband left her on the side of the road after an argument. Like with the Teresa Halbach case, Nancy was the first to cover the Rudy case – followed by Fox News this morning.
# posted by ATN @ 4:16 PM
CNN Presents Unprecedented Global Coverage of World AIDS Day
Coverage Airs throughout Day on CNN/U.S., CNN International,
CNN Headline News, CNN.com and CNNRadio
Highlights of today’s coverage on CNN include:
> Anderson Cooper interviews former President Bill Clinton from Munich, Germany.
> “Still No AIDS Vaccine”: It’s been nearly 25 years since the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV was first detected, yet there is still no vaccine. CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells the story of Nancy Ndegewa, whose husband died of AIDS last January. Though they had unprotected sex throughout their marriage, she remains HIV-resistant.
> Ndegewa – a prostitute who has spent most of her life having unprotected sex with thousands of men – is one of more than 100 prostitutes in Nairobi, Kenya, who has shown resistance to HIV. Discovered by Canadian researchers in the 1990s, they may offer scientists answers to the AIDS epidemic.
> “Rwanda/AIDS”: Gupta tells the very moving story of the desperation of the people in Rwanda, who go days without a full meal and watch their family and neighbors die from AIDS. However, a Boston-based group has pioneered an initiative to get medications to these poorest and sickest of patients.
> “Truck Techniques”: CNN African correspondent Jeff Koinange reports on an aid worker in Malawi who is taking the fight against HIV/AIDS to the truck stop. As truckers stop at various towns on their routes, their only pastime is often prostitution. The aid workers are teaching “safe sex” to truckers and prostitutes, and it is having some impact, a small victory in a battle that seems all but lost.
> “AIDS Generation”: Among European nations, Russia has the fastest growing population of HIV/AIDS sufferers, with more than a million citizens believed to be infected. From St. Petersburg, CNN’s Moscow correspondent Matthew Chance reports on the high number of HIV-infected children in Russia who have been orphaned or abandoned by their parents. In a country in which HIV/AIDS carries an enormous stigma, the government has established AIDS orphanages where the children are kept isolated from the outside world. Official figures say just five AIDS orphans have ever been adopted in the 18 years since the virus first appeared in Russia. Chance reports on how children and doctors cope and how discrimination is preventing Russia from tackling its HIV/AIDS crisis heads on.
> “Nkosi Johnson”: Until his death in 2001, 12-year old Nkosi Johnson was South Africa’s oldest surviving child born HIV positive. Nkosi captured the hearts of millions worldwide when he spoke frankly about treating people with HIV humanely in a speech broadcast live from an AIDS conference. At the World Summit of Nobel Laureates in Rome, he received the first International Child Peace Prize posthumously. CNN’s Alphonso Van Marsh chronicles the preparations of Nkosi’s adoptive mother Gail Johnson for the trip from Johannesburg to Italy. She tells viewers about Nkosi’s life and how she is preserving her son’s legacy.
> Live coverage of remarks from President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush regarding HIV/AID initiatives.
> Richard Roth reports live from the United Nations with reports about World AIDS Day.
> To mark World AIDS Day, the Human Rights Campaign releases a report at a press conference on Capitol Hill today examining the Bush administration’s and Congress’ response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
CNN Headline News, CNN.com and CNNRadio
Highlights of today’s coverage on CNN include:
> Anderson Cooper interviews former President Bill Clinton from Munich, Germany.
> “Still No AIDS Vaccine”: It’s been nearly 25 years since the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV was first detected, yet there is still no vaccine. CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells the story of Nancy Ndegewa, whose husband died of AIDS last January. Though they had unprotected sex throughout their marriage, she remains HIV-resistant.
> Ndegewa – a prostitute who has spent most of her life having unprotected sex with thousands of men – is one of more than 100 prostitutes in Nairobi, Kenya, who has shown resistance to HIV. Discovered by Canadian researchers in the 1990s, they may offer scientists answers to the AIDS epidemic.
> “Rwanda/AIDS”: Gupta tells the very moving story of the desperation of the people in Rwanda, who go days without a full meal and watch their family and neighbors die from AIDS. However, a Boston-based group has pioneered an initiative to get medications to these poorest and sickest of patients.
> “Truck Techniques”: CNN African correspondent Jeff Koinange reports on an aid worker in Malawi who is taking the fight against HIV/AIDS to the truck stop. As truckers stop at various towns on their routes, their only pastime is often prostitution. The aid workers are teaching “safe sex” to truckers and prostitutes, and it is having some impact, a small victory in a battle that seems all but lost.
> “AIDS Generation”: Among European nations, Russia has the fastest growing population of HIV/AIDS sufferers, with more than a million citizens believed to be infected. From St. Petersburg, CNN’s Moscow correspondent Matthew Chance reports on the high number of HIV-infected children in Russia who have been orphaned or abandoned by their parents. In a country in which HIV/AIDS carries an enormous stigma, the government has established AIDS orphanages where the children are kept isolated from the outside world. Official figures say just five AIDS orphans have ever been adopted in the 18 years since the virus first appeared in Russia. Chance reports on how children and doctors cope and how discrimination is preventing Russia from tackling its HIV/AIDS crisis heads on.
> “Nkosi Johnson”: Until his death in 2001, 12-year old Nkosi Johnson was South Africa’s oldest surviving child born HIV positive. Nkosi captured the hearts of millions worldwide when he spoke frankly about treating people with HIV humanely in a speech broadcast live from an AIDS conference. At the World Summit of Nobel Laureates in Rome, he received the first International Child Peace Prize posthumously. CNN’s Alphonso Van Marsh chronicles the preparations of Nkosi’s adoptive mother Gail Johnson for the trip from Johannesburg to Italy. She tells viewers about Nkosi’s life and how she is preserving her son’s legacy.
> Live coverage of remarks from President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush regarding HIV/AID initiatives.
> Richard Roth reports live from the United Nations with reports about World AIDS Day.
> To mark World AIDS Day, the Human Rights Campaign releases a report at a press conference on Capitol Hill today examining the Bush administration’s and Congress’ response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
# posted by ATN @ 4:14 PM
CNN’s Lou Dobbs, Drew Griffin win Emmy Awards for Business Reporting
Source: CNN Press Release The National Television Academy today awarded CNN two Business and Financial News Emmys: a Lifetime Achievement Emmy for anchor Lou Dobbs and an investigative reporting Emmy for investigative correspondent Drew Griffin and producer Pia Malbran for their reports about fires allegedly caused by some Ford trucks.
The academy presented the awards for the best business and financial reporting in 2005 during its third annual ceremony held today at Bloomberg’s New York City headquarters.
The lifetime achievement award recognizes Dobbs for the creation of Lou Dobbs Moneyline and Lou Dobbs Tonight, two of the most prestigious news programs on television; the launch of CNNfn; and his coverage of some of the most important financial topics over the past quarter century, including jobs, immigration and the global economy. Lou Dobbs Tonight last year won a business Emmy in the category of Outstanding Extended Coverage of a Business Story for “Exporting America,” the program’s continuing series on outsourcing.
Griffin and Malbran earned an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Reporting of a Business News Story – Regularly Scheduled Newscast. In an early report, Griffin interviewed Earl Mohlis, an Iowa man who filed a wrongful death against Ford after his wife died in a fire allegedly caused by their Ford F-150 pickup truck. Griffin continued to investigate and report on the story of why Ford delayed recalling vehicles with a reportedly faulty cruise control device even after the National Highway Traffic Safety Association had launched 4 separate investigations and had more than 650 reports of Ford vehicles bursting into flames. Those follow-up reports aired on Paula Zahn Now.
The academy presented the awards for the best business and financial reporting in 2005 during its third annual ceremony held today at Bloomberg’s New York City headquarters.
The lifetime achievement award recognizes Dobbs for the creation of Lou Dobbs Moneyline and Lou Dobbs Tonight, two of the most prestigious news programs on television; the launch of CNNfn; and his coverage of some of the most important financial topics over the past quarter century, including jobs, immigration and the global economy. Lou Dobbs Tonight last year won a business Emmy in the category of Outstanding Extended Coverage of a Business Story for “Exporting America,” the program’s continuing series on outsourcing.
Griffin and Malbran earned an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Reporting of a Business News Story – Regularly Scheduled Newscast. In an early report, Griffin interviewed Earl Mohlis, an Iowa man who filed a wrongful death against Ford after his wife died in a fire allegedly caused by their Ford F-150 pickup truck. Griffin continued to investigate and report on the story of why Ford delayed recalling vehicles with a reportedly faulty cruise control device even after the National Highway Traffic Safety Association had launched 4 separate investigations and had more than 650 reports of Ford vehicles bursting into flames. Those follow-up reports aired on Paula Zahn Now.
# posted by ATN @ 4:11 PM
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
CNN Newsource Hires Kyung Lah as Correspondent for D.C. Bureau
Source: CNN Press Release Kyung Lah is joining CNN Newsource’s Washington, D.C. bureau, it was announced today by Paul Crum, executive director of news operations for CNN/U.S. Lah will serve as a national correspondent and will report live from breaking news events and from the nation’s capital, providing live reports for approximately 800 CNN Newsource partner stations. For affiliates, Lah’s assignment offers an additional general assignment correspondent in the Washington, D.C., area as CNN Newsource expands its D.C. operations.“This appointment bolsters the CNN Newsource ranks with an award-winning correspondent based at the important Newsource D.C. bureau,” Crum said. “She is a solid, enterprising reporter adept at covering breaking news stories, and she also has the ability to seek out stories that our affiliates will find interesting and useful.”
Lah comes to CNN Newsource from KNBC-Los Angeles, where she served as a morning news reporter for the Today in L.A. and as a midday anchor. At KNBC, Lah covered such stories as the California wildfires and the Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson trials. Prior to that, Lah was a reporter at WBBM, the CBS affiliate in Chicago. Lah also worked as a general assignment reporter and long-form investigative reporter at ABC affiliate KGTV in San Diego and won a regional Emmy award for specialty reporting. Lah’s first reporting position was at WWMT, the CBS affiliate in Kalamazoo, Mich.
# posted by ATN @ 5:28 PM
Narrowing the Ratings Gap
Source: Broadcasting and Cable Just like a trend in Anderson Cooper's neckties, the ratings gap between CNN and Fox News is narrowing.
A CNN release Wednesday cited Nielsen Media Research data that shows the news network averaged 198,000 viewers in the news demo, adults 25-54, during Anderson Cooper 360’s 10 p.m. – midnight time slot since the show debuted Nov. 7. That's 57% below the Fox News’ programming, Hannity & Colmes and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, that runs in the same time period, which averaged 311,000 viewers.
Last November, the networks were separated by a 179% gap in the 25-54 demo: CNN averaged 194,000 viewers and Fox News averaged 542,000.
The gap-lowering should not all be attributed to 360, however. All of the news networks posted double-digit drops in November compared to the same period last year, when large audiences were tuning in for election coverage. CNN’s drop was lower than Fox News’. Year to year, CNN dropped 34% in the demo in total-day viewing to 129,000 viewers, while Fox News dropped 49% to 228,000 viewers. (MSNBC was down 20% to 97,000 viewers; CNBC was down 19% to 47,000 viewers; and Headline News was down 17% to 84,000 viewers).
A CNN release Wednesday cited Nielsen Media Research data that shows the news network averaged 198,000 viewers in the news demo, adults 25-54, during Anderson Cooper 360’s 10 p.m. – midnight time slot since the show debuted Nov. 7. That's 57% below the Fox News’ programming, Hannity & Colmes and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, that runs in the same time period, which averaged 311,000 viewers.
Last November, the networks were separated by a 179% gap in the 25-54 demo: CNN averaged 194,000 viewers and Fox News averaged 542,000.
The gap-lowering should not all be attributed to 360, however. All of the news networks posted double-digit drops in November compared to the same period last year, when large audiences were tuning in for election coverage. CNN’s drop was lower than Fox News’. Year to year, CNN dropped 34% in the demo in total-day viewing to 129,000 viewers, while Fox News dropped 49% to 228,000 viewers. (MSNBC was down 20% to 97,000 viewers; CNBC was down 19% to 47,000 viewers; and Headline News was down 17% to 84,000 viewers).
# posted by ATN @ 5:20 PM
Monday, November 28, 2005
Gupta Explores Potential Threat of Asian Bird Flu in Prime-time Special
Source: CNN PressRoom CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta journeys to the frontlines of the battle against the bird flu as he investigates outbreaks in Thailand and Indonesia in an upcoming Dr. Sanjay Gupta Primetime Special. In “Killer Flu: A Breath Away,” an hour-long special premiering Sunday, Dec. 11, at 10 p.m. (ET), Gupta meets survivors and the families of victims of the deadly flu, as well as doctors and scientists working in areas considered "ground zero" for the bird flu. The special offers an in-depth look at their feverish efforts to stop the virus before it spreads around the world.
Gupta explains the effects an outbreak of bird flu might have on American towns, schools and hospitals.
“If the virus mutates, even a single infected traveler to the United States could unknowingly spark an outbreak of the virus here,” Gupta said. “We went to Southeast Asia – where the bird flu is already infecting people – to see how close we might be to that nightmare scenario. In many ways, this is a detective story.”
Gupta explains the effects an outbreak of bird flu might have on American towns, schools and hospitals.
“If the virus mutates, even a single infected traveler to the United States could unknowingly spark an outbreak of the virus here,” Gupta said. “We went to Southeast Asia – where the bird flu is already infecting people – to see how close we might be to that nightmare scenario. In many ways, this is a detective story.”
# posted by ATN @ 10:19 PM
AC to do Conan
AC will make a guest appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Wednesday, 11/30/05; NBC, after Jay Leno at 12:30am ET.
UPDATE: 11/29 AC's guest appearance has been cancelled.
UPDATE: 11/29 AC's guest appearance has been cancelled.
# posted by ATN @ 10:17 PM
The Future of TV News is NO Anchors? I Don't Think So
There's a must read article in New York Magazine about all the anchor switching, both network and cable, going on lately. The article starts off with quotes from CNN President Jon Klein and what he is banking on to be the future of CNN. Here's part of the article:" Jonathan Klein, the boyish 47-year-old president of CNN, walks through the fourth-floor newsroom in the Time Warner Center with the supreme confidence of one who knows the Future of Television News will be reporting for duty down the hall in about ten minutes. And yet, as he later settles into his fifth-floor office, with a Central Park view on one side and a panel of TV screens on the other, Klein offers a more radical vision of the future.
“Within five years, people will be saying, ‘I want the news about Jordan,’ and they’ll type ‘Jordan’ into their handheld device and up will pop the news about Jordan that they want, nothing else,” says Klein as he sits opposite the panel of anchor-filled screens broadcasting the news in the format that has worked well for the past half-century. “There won’t be anchors. There won’t be people introducing the stories. Consumers won’t have the time or the need for that. They’ll just be getting the news they want, when they want it, in whatever form they want it.”
Life is tough for television news anchors these days, especially the ones who aren’t Anderson Cooper. Even Cooper’s having it rough lately; at last count, he’s down to only three or four fawning media profiles a week.
Much as the news chiefs might not want to admit it, Anderson Cooper is the best hope for the future, with Klein the behind-the-scenes architect of his ascendancy. Other networks have inquired about Cooper’s status, only to be reminded that his ironclad CNN contract lasts two more years. No matter what he might say about the future of television news, Klein knows there will still be anchors five years from now; that’s why he’s banking so heavily on Cooper, while he still has him under contract. Two weeks ago, the 38-year-old CNN star began hosting the two-hour-long Anderson Cooper 360° every weeknight at 10 p.m., combining the passion of Edward R. Murrow and the pacing of MTV into a jazzy, if still low-rated, package. No one can afford to be content anymore with the idea of a gray eminence (CBS chairman Les Moonves’s famous “voice of God”) behind a desk anymore, unless he’s prematurely gray."
Read the full article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 9:33 PM
CNN's Gamble With 360º Has Yet to Reap Big Ratings
Here are some excerpts from an article in Media Week:> Through Nov. 21, or 11 days into its new time slot, 360° averaged 568,000 total viewers, with the balance tuning in for the program’s first hour (685,000). Cooper’s average audience is down 19 percent relative to Brown’s final week behind the NewsNight desk, and while it isn’t retaining its Larry King Live lead-in, losing 32 percent of the suspendered one’s audience, that’s still 4 percent better than Brown’s retention over the same period a year ago.
> If the buzz generated by Cooper’s Katrina reportage hasn’t translated into big ratings, CNN execs aren’t exactly fumbling for the Valium just yet. For one thing, 11 telecasts is far too brief a track record, said CNN spokesperson Christa Robinson. “It’s premature to discuss ratings,” she said. “We can’t really extrapolate much from the data thus far, but having said that we’re extremely pleased with the quality and performance of the show.”
> CNN is particularly enthused by Cooper’s performance among its crucial adults 25-54 demo. A year ago, Fox News Channel was up 182 percent in the demo in the 10-midnight slot; that lead has been narrowed to 68 percent in 360°’s first 11 days. Over that same period/time slot, CNN is up 7 percent among 25-54, while the FNC lineup of On the Record with Greta Van Susteren and the encore of The O’Reilly Factor are down 36 percent.
> Media buyers say it’s all about the bottom line. “That they could get some of their numbers up without a marketing campaign is something,” said one buyer, who characterized CNN’s inventory as “good and tight.”
# posted by ATN @ 4:30 PM
BBC Anchor Hired at CNN-I
Source: Broadcast Now CNN has poached BBC News 24 presenter Adrian Finighan, who had been with the corporation for over a decade, to join its London newsroom.He will take up his post as anchor/presenter in the new year.
# posted by ATN @ 4:10 PM
Koppel Comments on the Letting Go of Brown and Promoting of Cooper
In an article The New Yorker, former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel was asked about the fletting go of Aaron Brown and the promotion of Anderson Cooper. Here's that part of the article:
"When I ask him later for his reaction to CNN’s dismissal of Aaron Brown in favor of Anderson Cooper, Koppel describes Cooper as “bright, passionate, committed, and hardworking.” Then he uses the question as a launching pad to rail against network executives who use focus groups to determine whom to hire and promote. “If your way of designing a program is to bring in a couple dozen folks in three or four cities and hook them up with galvanic skin tests to see whether they get hot flashes when they see this young man or that young woman, you’re destined to fail.” Had such techniques been available years ago, Koppel adds, he wouldn’t have had much of a career. “God knows, who the hell would have picked this jug-eared diplomatic correspondent?”"
"When I ask him later for his reaction to CNN’s dismissal of Aaron Brown in favor of Anderson Cooper, Koppel describes Cooper as “bright, passionate, committed, and hardworking.” Then he uses the question as a launching pad to rail against network executives who use focus groups to determine whom to hire and promote. “If your way of designing a program is to bring in a couple dozen folks in three or four cities and hook them up with galvanic skin tests to see whether they get hot flashes when they see this young man or that young woman, you’re destined to fail.” Had such techniques been available years ago, Koppel adds, he wouldn’t have had much of a career. “God knows, who the hell would have picked this jug-eared diplomatic correspondent?”"
# posted by ATN @ 4:03 PM
Sunday, November 27, 2005
NK May Bar CNN in Retaliation for Documentary
Source: The Korea Times North Korea has indicated it may ban CNN media personnel from entering the country, apparently in retaliation for the U.S. cable news network¡¯s recent airing of a documentary on the North¡¯s human rights situation.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist North¡¯s official mouthpiece, issued a commentary Saturday accusing CNN of being manipulated by the U.S. administration.
``CNN broadcast video footage that distorted our independent and fair law enforcement without checking into any truth. It was full of fabrications from A to Z in order to degrade the image of our republic,¡¯¡¯ the commentary said in response to the CNN documentary ``Undercover in the Secret State¡¯¡¯ that first aired two weeks ago.
The program included images captured inside the North, reportedly secretly taken and smuggled out by a North Korean defector. They showed scenes of a public execution as well as dissident movements in the hunger-stricken nation.
``That was a product of the nasty psychological warfare masterminded by the U.S. administration, to bring down our regime,¡¯¡¯ the North¡¯s commentary went on. ``Last year, the U.S. engaged the Washington Post to spread rumors of experimenting on human bodies with poisonous gas, using so-called North Korean defector¡¯s testimony. The U.S. has, without fail, mobilized the media whenever it faces difficulty in pursuing a hostile policy against us.¡¯¡¯
The commentary also said that although CNN reporters have been allowed to visit North Korea several times, now CNN has ``dug its own grave,¡¯¡¯ whatever the reasons were.
North Korea occasionally accepts or even invites foreign reporters to their reclusive country, and has not been on peculiar terms with CNN until now.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist North¡¯s official mouthpiece, issued a commentary Saturday accusing CNN of being manipulated by the U.S. administration.
``CNN broadcast video footage that distorted our independent and fair law enforcement without checking into any truth. It was full of fabrications from A to Z in order to degrade the image of our republic,¡¯¡¯ the commentary said in response to the CNN documentary ``Undercover in the Secret State¡¯¡¯ that first aired two weeks ago.
The program included images captured inside the North, reportedly secretly taken and smuggled out by a North Korean defector. They showed scenes of a public execution as well as dissident movements in the hunger-stricken nation.
``That was a product of the nasty psychological warfare masterminded by the U.S. administration, to bring down our regime,¡¯¡¯ the North¡¯s commentary went on. ``Last year, the U.S. engaged the Washington Post to spread rumors of experimenting on human bodies with poisonous gas, using so-called North Korean defector¡¯s testimony. The U.S. has, without fail, mobilized the media whenever it faces difficulty in pursuing a hostile policy against us.¡¯¡¯
The commentary also said that although CNN reporters have been allowed to visit North Korea several times, now CNN has ``dug its own grave,¡¯¡¯ whatever the reasons were.
North Korea occasionally accepts or even invites foreign reporters to their reclusive country, and has not been on peculiar terms with CNN until now.
# posted by ATN @ 9:57 PM
