How To Be A Citizen Journalist On CNN

The cable news network CNN is working hard to be the go-to place for political coverage, and as such, many of their anchor people are interacting with viewers and encouraging viewer-generated content. Here’s a brief rundown of the politically-oriented shows and the preferred methods of contacting each host. Even if your contribution doesn’t make it on the air, it will appear on CNN.com where it could receive wide attention, so please consider participating. At the end of this post I’ll give you some guidelines for submitting your materials in ways that will do the most good for the cause of Vote Kindly.

These shows are listed in the order of their airing during the day.
American Morning, 6 AM ET
Hosts: John Roberts, Kiran Chetry
This is a general news show, but it still has a heavy dose of politics. On the web page for this show, in the sidebar, is this image:
If you click on the EMAIL link, you can submit your thoughts directly to them. Some of these emails are read on the air, and they might even contact you to interview you if you send a substantive, thoughtful email. Do include your phone number in the space provided if you are willing to be interviewed.
CNN Newsroom 3-4 PM ET
Host: Rick Sanchez
Sanchez seems to be a rising star at CNN, and he takes full advantage of new media. He loves Twitter, so if you do too, then be sure to follow him there and tweet him when he’s on the air. He famously displays actual pages from his Twitter account and reads them on the air. Sanchez and other daytime anchors are also active on FaceBook. Find him on Twitter here.
The Situation Room, 4-7 PM ET
Host: Wolf Blitzer
A general round-up of the days news with heavy emphasis on politics. Blitzer often has panels of guests to discuss events. His show is especially interactive and emails are read frequently. Send your emails to Blitzer here.In addition, there are individual correspondents who also read emails on air. Jack Cafferty in particular likes to do that. Find his blog here. and comments are allowed, though they need to follow the CNN guidelines (listed below). If you prefer, you may email Cafferty here.
Lou Dobbs Tonight, 7-8 PM ET
Host: Lou Dobbs
The outspoken Dobbs doesn’t hide his feelings, and his hold-‘em-all-accountable attitude toward politicians has won him many fans. He’s not as tapped into the new media as other anchors, but you can check out his website here, where there’s a link to email him.
Election Center, 8-9 PM ET
Host: Campbell Brown
Brown’s show is wall-to-wall election coverage, so she’s hungry for fresh stories! Email her here.
Anderson Cooper 360 (aka: AC360), 10 pm-midnight ET
Host: Anderson Cooper
This is the evening primetime show, and Cooper is the lead anchor on CNN. Many nights he also blogs during his program, which provides great opportunities to leave your comments. However, due to volume of comments, not all of them are posted.

Here are the CNN guidelines on how to increase your odds of getting your comment approved:

1. Use your real name (just your first name is fine). Some comments have been posted with an alias, but it’s not our favorite thing to do.
2. Stay on topic. A great comment on the campaign submitted to a blog about grey wolves will not get approved. Post your comment to the right blog entry!
3. Streamline! Comments that fill several screens could be amazing, but when we’re moderating comments it is really tempting to click delete instead of reading and approving “War and Peace: The 2008 Presidential Campaign.”
4. No links. Those are probably great articles and video, but we don’t have time to vet them, so links are an automatic delete.
5. We like criticism. We’re big fans of the 1st Amendment - we use the free press every day. We aren’t afraid of criticism in your comments, but let’s keep it intelligent and thoughtful, perhaps even constructive.
6. Language. Comments should be G-rated; PG at worst. (And that includes these: @#$%%$#&).
7. Don’t write in ALL CAPS. In case you didn’t hear me; DON’T YELL AT ME AND I WON’T YELL AT YOU.

Find Cooper’s blog here.
Sadly, you CANNOT post links to this site on the AC360 blog, though you certainly are encouraged to talk about it by name. Instead of writing: votekindly.org just refer to it conversationally: There’s a wonderful movement afoot to deal with potential voting problems on election day—it’s started by a group called Vote Kindly, and they provide hundreds of ideas on how to volunteer and help make this election run more smoothly.
Another option is to email Cooper directly from this page.
He is a very wired guy and does read viewer emails on the air.

Be An iReporter
That said, there is another area of the CNN web empire where you CAN add links in comments. It’s on the iReport section where you can comment on the political videos submitted by viewers.
This is also a place where you can file an iReport at CNN.com For example, as soon as you can organize a local event that could pass for newsworthy, you can “report” on it with video and submit it to: http://www.ireport.com/index.jspa . Or you can just be a talking head and submit your opinions/essay as you, or you can interview someone. Your best chance of getting on TV is if you’re covering some kind of newsworthy event. Interviewing someone from a local election board could work if it uncovers potential problems.
CNN also runs a viewer forum where you can leave comments and information about Vote Kindly. Check it out here.
General guidelines for helping promote Vote Kindly
• When you are able to add a link to our website, that is much appreciated. Just use this format: www.votekindly.org
• When you describe our mission, please be sure to point out that we are absolutely non-partisan.
• Use your real name rather than some obvious alias. This helps with credibility and enhances the chance of your submission being used. Also include your contact info in case a reporter wants to follow up with you. Who knows, this could be your 15 minutes of fame!
• If you see any mention of Vote Kindly in the media, do send us links to it, so we can share it with all our readers and so we can see what type of message is getting through.
• If you take photos of any relevant public event, feel free to share them with us to see if we can use them.