SA students feature in CNN World View on US election

‘World View' seeks to give voice to the thousands of young people worldwide who have something to say about the impact of the US elections on their country and continent by encouraging students to upload a self-authored video telling CNN why the 2008 US Election is important to them. South African universities involved include University of Cape Town, University of Forte Hare, University of the Free State, University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Limpopo

Katekani Baloyi, a Commerce student from the University of Cape Town

All videos may be viewed at CNN's citizen journalism website, www.ireport.com/worldview, and CNN International has been selecting the best to broadcast on air across CNN's feeds in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“The story we have here, in addition to an amazing political race, is one of people's reaction to this election from around the world, and we are making sure as many as possible have a chance to get involved,” says Mark Haviland, director, marketing, CNN International

Social networking

Social networking site Bebo is supporting the initiative by hosting a concentrated drive for students to give their views via www.ireport.com. CNN International's iReport correspondent Errol Barnett's call-to-action video will stream across www.bebo.com/cnn in an effort to grab the attention of the international audience. And targeted local language outreach includes a similar call-to-action video in German, featuring CNN International correspondent Fred Pleitgen, streaming on YouTube.

“Aside from the huge appetite for election news amongst our audience, people are also keener than ever to give us their thoughts. These various means of social and political self-expression empower users to join in the global conversation on the US Elections,” adds Nick Wrenn, VP digital media, CNN International.

More than a thousand universities

Supported by outdoor advertising, banner campaigns across key websites, print and direct mail advertising, Google keyword and video advertising as well as a robust poster and flyer campaign, World View involves more than a thousand universities in more than one hundred countries worldwide.

Word View forms only part of CNN International's initiatives designed to spotlight the opinions of its audience during the US presidential elections. As CNN's team of political experts continue to deliver up-to-the-minute news and analysis, the network has brought audiences into the fold via outreach on The Forum (http://theforum.cnn.com/), Facebook Connect and CNN.com.

The Forum is a special section of CNN.com where users can create political badges that identify their positions on key election issues, provide comment and see where others in The Forum stand on those issues. The ‘Facebook Connect' service within The Forum allows users to ‘connect' their CNN.com and Facebook accounts so they can share comments from The Forum within the newsfeed of their Facebook page.

Viewers from around the world can follow the US presidential election as CNN International simulcasts many hours of CNN's non-stop coverage. The network has teams in place in more than 32 countries, with correspondents in Obama's ancestral home town in Kenya, as well as in Iraq, Israel and key capitals of Europe, Asia and Latin America.