CNN to mark Berlin Wall anniversary with special coverage on TV and online
- Network to go live from Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie on anniversary date
- Made in Germany theme week to examine Germany’s economy 25 years on
- Special online content to include Berlin focus via CNN iReport
Munich: 27 October 2014. CNN is to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a comprehensive package of reports, analysis and interactive coverage as the world revisits a pivotal moment in history.
A quarter of a century on from the momentous events of November 1989, the network will look at how German reunification has come to encapsulate the potential for peaceful revolution and effective diplomacy.
In the run-up to the occasion, CNN International will present a Made in Germany theme week. Beginning on 27 October, special reports will highlight the nation’s economic development, examining topics such as car production, mittelstand companies, and factories of the future.
From Stuttgart to Gottingen and Dresden to Duderstadt, CNN’s Fred Pleitgen will meet the people and enterprises that have championed the ‘Made in Germany’ trademark and established the country as a home for smart business since the Wall fell 25 years ago. Online, a range of content will provide background stories and additional interactive information on the theme week and the companies featured.
On the anniversary weekend of 9 November, CNN anchor Hala Gorani will join Fred Pleitgen to broadcast live from the former East/West border at the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie. In 1989, CNN correspondent Jim Clancy reported live on the fall of the Wall. 25 years later, he will look back over CNN’s archive footage from this extraordinary day.
In addition, CNN’s citizen journalism platform, iReport, in a special cooperation with the German daily newspaper Tagesspiegel will be celebrating the best of today’s Berlin. Users are invited to tell their own Berlin stories by submitting their own pictures and reports from or about the city. From historical buildings, national dishes and local customs, andto the personalities and neighbourhoods that make today’s Berlin unique, the special report will tell the city’s story from its streets.
This dedicated coverage about Germany is part of CNN’s editorial focus this year looking at the Fall of the Wall. Programming has included historical context through landmark documentary series The Cold War and a focus on many of the countries across Europe and central Asia that rose up in the aftermath of this watershed moment in history.
“25 years ago, the world watched spellbound as events unfolded in Berlin”, says Mike McCarthy, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CNN International. “It’s hard to overstate the historical significance of those days, and we want to both mark the anniversary and show just what it has led to for modern Germany and the world. There will be a rich mixture of historical and contemporary content across TV and online, giving our audience a unique insight into the events of 1989 and their repercussions. Just as CNN journalists witnessed the fall of the Wall first hand, 25 years later we are tapping into current impressions of one of the world’s most fascinating cities.”
Notes to editors:
Made in Germany segments will air daily on CNN International during World Business Today and The World Right Now with Hala Gorani 27 October-31 October.
A 15-minute highlight Made in Germany show will air on CNN International on 31 October, with daily replays until 4 November.
For more information, please contact:
Julia Zweigle
PR Coordinator CNN International
Germany, Austria & Switzerland
Turner Broadcasting System Deutschland GmbH
Tel.: +49 89 69 33 54-7105
E-Mail: julia.zweigle@turner.com
About CNN International
CNN’s portfolio of news and information services is available in five different languages across all major TV, internet and mobile platforms reaching more than 380 million households around the globe. CNN International, awarded “News Channel of the Year” by the Royal Television Society in 2013 and 2014, is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America. The CNN digital network is consistently one of the top news and current affairs destination on the web. CNN has 42 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company.