CNN has announced a partnership with Facebook for its 2012
election coverage that will include a second screen "I'm Voting" app, user
analytics, surveys and other interactive applications that will be available to
CNN's on-air, mobile and online audiences and Facebook 160 million U.S. users.
"We fundamentally changed the way people consume live
event coverage online, setting a record for the most-watched live video event
in Internet history, when we teamed up with Facebook for the 2009 inauguration
of President Obama," said KC Estenson, senior VP for CNN Digital. "By again
harnessing the power of the Facebook platform and coupling it with the best of
our journalism, we will redefine how people engage in the democratic process
and advance the way a news organization covers a national election."
The "I'm Voting" Facebook app in English and Spanish will
allow Facebook users to endorse specific candidates and issues and make
commitments to vote. These commitments will be visually displayed for each
state on an interactive map.
Users will also be able to use the app as a "second screen"
for CNN's "America's Choice 2012" political coverage. CNN will use the app to
ask Facebook users political questions and will report on their answers during
on-air, online and mobile segments.
Facebook and CNN have also agreed to work together to track
"the buzz" around presidential and vice-presidential candidates, with Facebook
reporting results from overall discussion around each candidate and CNN
providing a more specific state by state analysis.
In addition, the two companies will survey voting-age users
in key U.S. locations and demographics for the Democratic and Republican
National Conventions, Presidential Debates, Election Day and other significant
dates on the election calendar. Results will be made available on CNN, CNN.com,
and on the U.S. Politics on Facebook page, which is Facebook's hub for campaign
2012 information.
