Time Warner’s CNN unveiled its new Web site Thursday evening in a presentation that was part Hollywood and part Apple.
- CNN
All week long, the network had been touting the event, dubbed “The Unveiling.” Top CNN executives and invited reporters packed a corporate screening room on the 10th floor of the Time Warner Center as KC Estenson, CNN.com’s general manager, took the stage. He looked like somewhat like Steve Jobs in a dark sweater, jeans and wireless microphone.
“It is a revolution for us,” Mr. Estenson said, as he flashed the first glimpse of the new CNN.com, which goes live on Monday. “This is a really special event.”
Among its features is NewsPulse, which he described as “like an iTunes for news” — a sortable, categorizable list of every story and video on the site. CNN also announced new content. In addition to adding a new entertainment section and opinion section, he said the new site will host a big backlog of video speeches from the California intellectual-utopian conference TED, which hosts people like Jane Goodall and Bill Gates.
On Nov. 9, the site will host a live video discussion with Oprah Winfrey’s book club, incorporating questions and commentary on social-networking site Facebook.
After the presentation, as CNN staffers and other guests crossed the street for the cocktail party, the reaction was relatively positive. Some were less impressed by the design than by the new content. Most CNN executives were enthusiastic. “I like the breadth of it,” Jonathan Klein, CNN’s U.S. president, said. He added that he also liked how the top of every page said CNN, rather than CNN.com.
At the after-party, CNN staffers, Time Warner executives, ad-sales folks and other guests milled around on an ivy-trellised terrace. Some of the recognizable faces who had attended “The Unveiling” had melted away. Campbell Brown, who anchors a weeknight news program on CNN, slipped away early. “I have a show to do,” she said.
