CNN Reaches More People Across More Platforms for Second 100 Days

CNN.com to poll the country by web, phone, text messaging and Facebook

Anchors Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and Soledad O’Brien will lead CNN’s second prime-time special focused on analyzing President Barack Obama’s presidency and airing report cards from CNN contributors and the general public. The CNN National Report Card: Second 100 Days airs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 6. The network will give viewers the opportunity to grade how President Obama, Congress and other elected officials have handled the second 100 days in office and how the country is progressing on significant issues.

Voting has already begun on www.CNN.com/ReportCard and Facebook users can visit www.Facebook.com/CNN to download an application that allows grading of President Obama right from user profiles. On the evening of the event itself, the network will expand voting to enable viewers to submit their letter grades via telephones and mobile devices. Similar to CNN’s Election Night in America, the anchors will countdown to the end of voting and will reveal the results in real-time on-air and online.

Viewers also will be able to compare their report cards with those from members of the Peabody-winning, Emmy-nominated Best Political Team on Television, including senior political analysts Gloria Borger and David Gergen and political contributors Paul Begala, Bill Bennett, Donna Brazile and Alex Castellanos. In order to provide perspective to the incoming results, O’Brien and senior political analyst Bill Schneider will check-in from CNN’s polling center with separate, scientific public opinion polls. Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley will report on President Obama’s second 100 days, as well as look ahead to the next 100 days. Other correspondents will report live throughout the night on various aspects of President Obama’s time so far in the White House.

“We are fulfilling our promise to hold elected officials up to the judgment of the people who elected them into office,” said David Bohrman, senior vice president and Washington bureau chief. “CNN is giving the country the opportunity to hold the powerful accountable, just as the Best Political Team on Television does every day.”

Throughout the day, the network’s programming on-air and online will center on President Obama’s second 100 days and build to the primetime event. Special editions of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Lou Dobbs Tonight from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. will lead into The CNN National Report Card: Second 100 Days.

Before submitting their grades online at www.CNN.com/ReportCard, users can access an interactive library filled with stories, graphics and videos to help them make informed voting decisions. Additionally, CNN.com provides users in-depth reports on Obama’s First Year at www.CNN.com/44thPresident and www.CNNPolitics.com. Through a combination of technology and staffing, the network will monitor the voting process to combat any intentional swaying of the results.

CNNMoney.com also is providing in-depth coverage that will explain and analyze President Obama’s initiatives on the economy and help viewers and readers rate the administration’s progress.
Additionally, iReport.com, CNN’s user-generated news community, is encouraging its users to upload first-person video report cards to explain what motivated their grading. Contributors to iReport.com also may gain recognition by having the material they submit to the site – once vetted and approved for use – appear on a CNN network or CNN.com.

On Thursday, August 6th at 7 p.m., CNN en Español takes a look at Obama’s first 200 days in a special edition of Directo desde EE.UU, anchored by Glenda Umaña. Are President Obama’s policies working? Is the stimulus package having a positive impact on the economy? Is the health care reform a feasible plan? How does Latin America see his government? Glenda Umaña, Juan Carlos Lopez, Mario Gonzalez and a panel of guests will review the President’s policies in this special 30-minute show.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.