Six-hour God’s Warriors

CNN Announces Worldwide TV Event
on Rise of Religion as Powerful Political Force

Six-hour God’s Warriors
Reported by Christiane Amanpour
Airs over Three Nights Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 21
CNN will premiere a six-hour documentary next month on the impact of religious fundamentalism as a powerful political force around the world. Filmed over seven months in six countries and reported by chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, CNN Presents: God’s Warriors will debut over three nights from Tuesday, Aug. 21, to Thursday, Aug. 23, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) on CNN Worldwide’s U.S. and international networks.

“CNN is one of the only networks still investing in ambitious documentaries that try to add to the understanding of our complex times,” said CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein. “In God’s Warriors, we are taking advantage of CNN’s global reach and unparalleled resources to more fully inform viewers about the conflicts and important religious dynamics taking shape in the world today.”

Amanpour, who reported the award-winning In the Footsteps of Bin Laden for CNN last year, reflected on faith, culture, politics and power.

“As I report around the world, people often ask me about the rise of religious influence on political power within the United States, but in fact this is true worldwide,” Amanpour said. “Wherever I go, what the believers do all have in common is that they want to bring the politics of faith into the very center of public life – we are seeing this now on almost every continent.”

God’s Warriors includes interviews with former President Jimmy Carter about the political impact of the Christian Right in the United States; the Rev. Jerry Falwell – in his last television interview – about the political and cultural legacy of the Moral Majority movement in America; Noa Rothman, granddaughter of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, discusses his assassination by a militant Jewish fundamentalist; and Kamal el-Said Habib, a reformed Islamic jihadist who was part of the violent militant group that assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

At the January Television Critics Association meetings earlier this year, CNN announced CNN: Special Investigations Unit as a new series platform for breaking news and other enterprising productions reported by the network’s top investigative talent, in addition to the multi-hour event productions branded as CNN Presents. Between the two series, CNN Productions will offer approximately 40 hours of breaking news specials and planned documentaries in 2007, an increase of 30 percent from the previous year. Mark Nelson is the vice president and senior executive producer of CNN Productions.

A companion Web site to God’s Warriors will offer users the opportunity to experience show excerpts from the documentary, listen to an audio podcast about the documentary and view an exclusive video diary that goes behind-the-scenes with producers as they traveled in Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East for principle filming. This online content will launch in August at www.CNN.com/godswarriors. The podcast will also be available for download from iTunes.

Christiane Amanpour, as CNN’s chief international correspondent, has reported on crises from the world’s many hotspots, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda and the Balkans. Her assignments have ranged from exclusive interviews with world leaders to reporting on the human consequences of natural disasters or covering war zones. She has received wide acclaim and numerous awards for her work, including the coveted Paul White Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for lifetime achievement, two George Foster Peabody Awards, a Courage in Journalism Award and a number of Emmys and duPont awards. She is a member of the board of directors for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

CNN Presents is the most honored documentary series in cable news. CNN Presents: In the Footsteps of Bin Laden will be awarded the 2006 Sigma Delta Chi journalism award for excellence in the television category “Network/Top 25 Market” for documentaries later this month by the Society for Professional Journalists.

The managing editor of God’s Warriors is Kathy Slobogin. Andy Segal, Michael Mocklar and Ken Shiffman are senior producers; Cliff Hackel is producer/editor; Brian Rokus and Jen Christensen and Julie O\'Neill are producers. Jody Gottlieb is the executive director of CNN Productions.

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.

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