Saturday, May 27, 2006
Verjee Gives CNN an International Edge
Great article from Broadcasting and Cable about the rise of Zain Vergee at CNN. Alot of questions get answered, including how she came to be on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. "“When I spotted her doing some anchoring on CNN International, I pushed hard to get her on my show,” say Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer."What does Vergee have to say about what she's going through: "“I am sort of operating in the reverse,” says CNN's Zain Verjee. “I've been a main anchor on a main show on CNNI for six years, and now I am going to be a correspondent in Washington for whatever I get assigned.”"
Read the full article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 11:50 PM 
Friday, May 26, 2006
CNN Pipeline Hires New Anchor
Source: CNN Press Release Nicole Lapin, most recently an investigative reporter and anchor with KPSP-TV in Palm Springs, Calif., has joined CNN Pipeline as a news anchor, it was announced today by Sandy Malcolm, executive producer of CNN.com video. As part of her new assignment, Lapin will also anchor “Now in the News,” a fast-paced hourly Web- and wireless-exclusive news update and “.com Desk,” briefings on CNN/U.S. featuring highlights of CNN.com coverage.
“Nicole has established herself as a smart, confident broadcast journalist,” Malcolm said. “With a background in political science and conversant in five languages, Nicole brings an amazing array of skills to CNN Pipeline and will be a welcome addition to our anchor team.”
Lapin joins Veronica de la Cruz, Richard Lui and Melissa Long, three anchors who helped launch CNN.com’s premium commercial-free broadband video news service in December 2005.
She comes to CNN Pipeline from the CBS affiliate KPSP-TV, where she reported live from San Quentin during the execution of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Her work included a series on possible wrongful convictions in California, a subject she first explored in Illinois with a group whose investigations led to a moratorium on executions in the state.
Previously, Lapin worked with the First Business Network, where she reported daily from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She also traveled to cover national and international business news for the network. Before that, she worked as a general assignment reporter for KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D. and WKYT-TV in Lexington, Ky. Her awards include citations from the Chicago Emmy Committee, the Hearst Journalism Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists, Radio-Television News Directors Association and the Association of Women Journalists.
Lapin graduated summa cum laude and as valedictorian of her class from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, also earning honors for a second major in political science.
“Nicole has established herself as a smart, confident broadcast journalist,” Malcolm said. “With a background in political science and conversant in five languages, Nicole brings an amazing array of skills to CNN Pipeline and will be a welcome addition to our anchor team.”
Lapin joins Veronica de la Cruz, Richard Lui and Melissa Long, three anchors who helped launch CNN.com’s premium commercial-free broadband video news service in December 2005.
She comes to CNN Pipeline from the CBS affiliate KPSP-TV, where she reported live from San Quentin during the execution of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Her work included a series on possible wrongful convictions in California, a subject she first explored in Illinois with a group whose investigations led to a moratorium on executions in the state.
Previously, Lapin worked with the First Business Network, where she reported daily from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She also traveled to cover national and international business news for the network. Before that, she worked as a general assignment reporter for KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D. and WKYT-TV in Lexington, Ky. Her awards include citations from the Chicago Emmy Committee, the Hearst Journalism Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists, Radio-Television News Directors Association and the Association of Women Journalists.
Lapin graduated summa cum laude and as valedictorian of her class from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, also earning honors for a second major in political science.
# posted by ATN @ 5:21 PM
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
HLN Hires New Anchor
Source CNN Press Release Richelle Carey, a news anchor with extensive reporting experience in markets nationwide, will soon join Headline News, it was announced today by Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN Worldwide. Carey’s new assignment, which will include anchoring Headline Prime news breaks as well as overnight newscasts, will begin Tuesday, June 13.“Richelle is a dynamic addition to the Headline News team,” Jautz said. “News breaks continue to be an important part of our Headline Prime line-up, and Richelle’s breadth of experience will certainly serve her well in this new role.”
Carey comes to Headline News from KMOV in St. Louis, where she anchored the News 4 This Morning show since 2003. Before St. Louis, Carey also anchored the morning news for KVVU-TV in Las Vegas, Nevada, and KETK-TV in Tyler, Texas. Carey has also served as a military reporter in Waco, Texas, at KWTX-TV. She began her career as an associate producer for KPRC-TV in Houston.
Carey’s notable reporting assignments have included covering Fort Hood in Texas, the largest military installation in the world. She also spent a week in Bosnia completing a four-part series on the work of soldiers in the 1st U.S. Cavalry stationed there. She has also been awarded the "Women Changing the World" award from Texas College.
Carey is a graduate of Baylor University with a degree in telecommunications.
# posted by ATN @ 10:46 PM
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Brown Was Going to Leave CNN When Contract Was Up
In an article in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune, former NewsNight anchor Aaron says he was gonna leave CNN in 2007 when his contract was up. Below is that part of the article:
" How did his ( Peter Jennings's) death affect you?
It had a profound effect. I started thinking less and less about what I was accomplishing and more and more about what I'm missing. What had I sacrificed to become me? I had absolutely decided that once my CNN contract expired in 2007, I was going to do something else. To be honest, I wanted to walk away on my own terms, but when it went down, I was the calmest guy in the room.
I'm at peace now with all of it. I'm proud of what I've done and I'm content that I'll always be seen professionally in a certain way. You're taught along the way to never do anything to screw up the first line in your obituary, and mine is still going to say, "Aaron Brown, one of the anchors who helped the country through difficult days after 9/11. ... " That's not a bad ending. Dan [Rather] is really the sad character right now. His obituary is going to say, "Dan Rather, who was forced to resign. ... " That's a bad ending."
" How did his ( Peter Jennings's) death affect you?
It had a profound effect. I started thinking less and less about what I was accomplishing and more and more about what I'm missing. What had I sacrificed to become me? I had absolutely decided that once my CNN contract expired in 2007, I was going to do something else. To be honest, I wanted to walk away on my own terms, but when it went down, I was the calmest guy in the room.
I'm at peace now with all of it. I'm proud of what I've done and I'm content that I'll always be seen professionally in a certain way. You're taught along the way to never do anything to screw up the first line in your obituary, and mine is still going to say, "Aaron Brown, one of the anchors who helped the country through difficult days after 9/11. ... " That's not a bad ending. Dan [Rather] is really the sad character right now. His obituary is going to say, "Dan Rather, who was forced to resign. ... " That's a bad ending."
# posted by ATN @ 10:26 PM
CNN/US Getting New Weather Center
In response to my CNN renovation post, a tipster sends this: "That wall behind Veronica is for a new weather center. CNN is vamping up to have up to the minute coverage for hurricanes. It's like a new studio, but pretty much just for hurricane coverage."
# posted by ATN @ 6:51 PM
Monday, May 22, 2006
CNN Atlanta News Room Renovations
These CNN Fans have noticed the recent renovations taking place in the Atlanta newsroom. As you can tell by the pic, a blue screen/wall, whatever, has been erected. I noticed it also Saturday afternoon. Can we expect a new Atlanta newsroom set soon?
Pic from Veronica Delacruz.com
# posted by ATN @ 10:21 PM
Former Long Time HLN Anchor Back on TV
Former Headline News Anchor Lynee Russell is back on tv. According to a poster on the CNN Fan message board, "She's on Canada's CBC Newsworld, anchoring weekend shifts."
# posted by ATN @ 1:28 AM
Carlos WHO?
I meant to post about this last weekend but I have been busy, so I will do it now. I was flipping through the channels last weekend and came across Carlos Watson doing an interview type program on BET. Well, an e-mailer notes that Watson's bio is now gone from CNN.com. It seems the former political contributer has moved to BET to host Meet the Faith. The program premiered May 7th. CNN attempted to develop an interview type program with Watson as the host but it never picked up any steam.
# posted by ATN @ 1:19 AM
Sunday, May 21, 2006
CNN Founder Rides Off Into the Sunset
Source: Associated Press Ted Turner was uncharacteristically understated Friday as he departed Time Warner Inc., the media conglomerate that swallowed his cable network company and slowly sidelined him as a mover and shaker in the businesses that he helped to create.The CNN founder told Time Warner shareholders at their annual meeting he regrets not being able to do more for them.
"I just wish the last five years I could have made a bigger contribution," Turner said. "I hung in there as long as I could. I've done my best."
With that, he borrowed newscaster Edward R. Murrow's famous sign-off, said "Good night and good luck" and left the Georgia World Congress Center after not standing for re-election to Time Warner's board of directors.
A video tribute to Turner was played at Friday's meeting in Atlanta, and later former CNN chief Tom Johnson offered a moving personal tribute, though Turner had left the meeting by that point. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 10:02 PM
