CNN Donates $1M to AAJA, NABJ, NAHJ

CNN has donated $1 million to the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists for scholarships for minority students pursuing journalism. CNN President Jim Walton made the announcement on behalf of CNN's more than 4,000 employees during the 2005 World Report Conference in Atlanta and in

"CNN prides itself on being the world's news leader, providing news to more people in more places than any other news organization," Walton said. "But news organizations are only as strong as their journalists, and it is imperative that the diversity of our journalists reflects the diversity of the world they cover. This donation will help ensure that diversity, by directly supporting the efforts of three outstanding organizations that encourage minority journalism students."

CNN's donation, which will be evenly split among the three organizations, will be used to create a CNN25 Scholars Program. Rigorous criteria for scholarships would likely require demonstrated journalistic excellence, consistent with the values of CNN, and a commitment to community involvement.

CNN, the pioneer of 24-hour news, first broadcast on June 1, 1980, and was available in fewer than two million U.S. households. Since then, CNN has gone from one domestic network to 24 networks and services which reach more than 2 billion people in more than 200 countries.

CNN, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is one of the world's most respected and trusted sources for news and information. Its reach extends to 14 cable and satellite television networks; two private place-based networks; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; six Web sites, including CNN.com, the first major news and information Web site; and CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively syndicated news service.

CONTACT:
Christa Robinson
New York 212/275-7995
christa.robinson@cnn.com