Last weekend I took a journey into the heart of the world's news leader at Inside CNN Atlanta. Yes, I was thrilled to be a part of the behind-the-scenes tour, which shows exactly what it takes to deliver the news available to over 2 billion people worldwide. My CNN Inside tour worked out to be my backstage pass to the most trusted name in news.
CNN (Cable News Network) is among the world's leaders in online news and information delivery. Apart of the world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, CNN has its bureaus worldwide and relies heavily on it’s global team of almost 4,000 news professionals.
Do you know who is the man behind this initiative? He's R.E. "Ted" Turner - the founder of Turner Broadcasting System Inc. He began his career as an account executive with Turner Advertising Co. and entered the television business in 1970 when he acquired Atlanta independent UHF station Channel 17. In 1976, Turner bought Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves and launched TBS Superstation, originating the "Superstation" concept. The following year, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. acquired the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks, and in 1980, Turner launched CNN, the world's first live, 24-hour global news network. In just 2 decades from it’s launch, the company built a portfolio of unrivaled cable television news and entertainment brands and businesses, including CNN Headline News, CNN International, TNT, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies. In the mid-1990s, Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema became Turner Broadcasting properties. In October 1996, the company merged with Time Warner Inc. In January 2001, Time Warner Inc. merged with America Online to create AOL Time Warner. In October 2003, the company changed its name back to Time Warner Inc. Today, Turner Broadcasting remains a basic cable revenue and industry leader, operating many of the most powerful and well-established brands in news, entertainment and animation.
As it would be of interest to my development sector professionals, Ted Turner has also made his mark as one of the nation's most influential philanthropists. He is Chairman of the Turner Foundation Inc., founded in 1990, which provides support for clean water and toxics reduction; clean air through improved energy efficiency and renewables; wildlife habitat protection; and the development of equitable practices and policies designed to reduce population growth rates. Since 1991, the Turner Foundation has provided grants to hundreds of organizations committed to those goals.
In September 1997, Turner announced a pledge of up to $1 billion to the United Nations Foundation (UNF). The organization supports the goals and objectives of the United Nations to promote a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.
There is so much more that I learnt about Ted Turner that I can go and on and on but hey let me tell you all about some more about the Inside CNN tour. The tours starts with you stepping on to the world’s largest free standing escalator above which is placed a 50 foot globe, from where one can see 25 years of CNN footage on interactive kiosks. From here one enters the replica of a CNN control room and then enters the black box studio, which gives an up close look at the technology used at CNN everyday while delivering news and weather report. This was real fun when once could sit like a news anchor and get a photograph clicked. I too got one! Then we see the newsroom section in action from a glass corridor – which shows how news flows from their sources to viewers. I also learnt about CNN Headline News, CNN International, CNN. Com & CNN en Espanol - which is turning out to be a huge success in terms of its viewer ship. At the finale of the tour – you see videos of CNN anchors sharing their lifetime experiences and how it feels to be on the frontlines of slavery.
The CNN Center also houses a major hotel (an Omni Hotels franchise) and a large atrium food court frequented by local business employees, tourists and event goers.
I also went to see the Chattanooga Mountains Rock Park. The name Chattanooga, in fact, is the Creek Indian word for Lookout Mountain. It was such a great trip and the best thing was that I could spend time with my childhood friend Nivedita after almost 6 long years. She cooked some yummy vegetarian stuff for me and packed some for me while I was coming back.
I had a great time!
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