From Monday 30th August, CNN International launches ‘Global Connections’, a new programming segment within ‘Connect the World’ that casts the spotlight on two seemingly distant nations to find unexpected similarities. Each week the network invites guests into the studio to give background information on the two featured countries, and these Global Connectors are: Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia; Craig Glenday; editor-in-chief of the Guinness Book of Records; Tom Hall, editor of the Lonely Planet travel guide and Ken Jennings, a trivia buff who enjoyed the longest winning streak on the American game show, Jeopardy.
Viewers are invited to submit their iReport video, text or photo to www.cnn.com/globalconnections, focussing on their personal experiences or interesting anecdotes that connect the two countries. The best and most interesting submissions will appear in an extended “Global Connections” segment during ‘Connect the World’ every Friday for the next 8 weeks and on the show website www.cnn.com/globalconnections.
“‘Global Connections’ is an interactive show segment that is designed to show that our vast world is a lot smaller than we think and interconnected in a myriad of ways. We’re inviting our audience to give us a personal angle to help reveal unusual links between our two selected countries. We look forward to exploring the intriguing personal parallels our audience is able to draw between the nations we profile each week, whether it’s cultural, historical, economic, social or something less conventional”, says Mike McCarthy, Vice President of coverage and feature programming, CNN International.
In launch week, ‘Global Connections’ asks viewers; ‘what links Brazil and Nigeria?’. Tune in to ‘Connect the World’ from 2100 BST on Monday 30th August to see presenter Becky Anderson explain the concept and discuss the two countries with Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales.
About ‘Global Connections’
Monday
Becky Anderson, host of ‘Connect the World’, announces which two countries are being featured that week.
Tuesday – Thursday
Becky reads or shows viewer iReports submitted to date of the various ways in which our viewers have connected the two countries.
Friday
Two guests representing the different countries join Becky in a discussion about what the week’s UGC activity has revealed about the two countries featured during the week. The best of the week’s iReports feature on the show.
How to contribute to ‘Global Connections’
Viewers can get involved by:
- uploading a video to CNN’s iReport http://ireport.cnn.com/ir-
topic-stories.jspa?topicId= 324241 - emailing their ideas to connecttheworld@cnn.com
- skyping the show via cnn_connecttheworld
- commenting on the Global Connections or CNN international’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/
cnninternational - commenting on the Global Connections blog
- following the show on Twitter @BeckyCNN and @CNNConnect
About ‘Connect The World’
Hosted by Becky Anderson, ‘Connect the World’, is an hour-long programme which takes viewers on a sweeping journey across continents, beyond headlines and into the stories that are changing our world.
‘Connect the World’, weeknights on CNN 2100 BST, 2200 CET
