CNN Election Express Parks in Philadelphia as Network’s Newest Mini-Bureau

3/26/2008 -- Following a campaign coverage strategy of creating mini-bureaus in key political battleground states, CNN has parked the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia this week to create a full-time reporting presence for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.

In the weeks leading up to the primary, the Election Express will serve as CNN’s production and newsgathering center, providing a newsroom for up to 20 journalists as well as a studio for interviews and satellite transmission equipment. By stationing the mobile news bureau in Philadelphia, the network positions itself to offer its signature and unmatched political coverage. The Election Express is currently parked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The creation of this newest mini-bureau in Philadelphia follows CNN’s successful and unprecedented strategy employed early in the primary season. CNN reinvented the role of embedded campaign journalists this election season by setting up mini-bureaus in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina, staffing them with full-time CNN journalists charged with providing in-depth reports for each state. The result contributed to CNN’s position as the most watched network for political coverage.

The CNN Election Express provides cutting-edge technology by combining a studio, editing room and production facility with those of a satellite truck. As the first and only fully high-definition mobile news bureau, the 45-foot bus is wired for WiFi and boasts robust Internet connectivity, four HD cameras, ten LCD monitors and one 42-inch plasma screen. It also maintains a tracking BGAN transmission platform that allows the bus to transmit video while in motion. A top-of-the-line editing system and video production server provide full post-production capabilities.

This election season, the Election Express has been instrumental in covering presidential campaigns across the nation, serving critical production functions for the CNN-YouTube debates last year and as a fully operational studio for on-the-trail interviews with most of the presidential candidates.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Source: CNN

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