Cable News Network

CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein told staffers of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on Thursday that the controversy regarding the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate -- a topic Dobbs has avidly pursued on the air -- is a "dead" story. But in an interview, the cable news chief left open the possibility that Dobbs may continue to raise questions about why the president has not produced a long-form birth certificate.

The liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America sought to ratchet up the pressure on CNN on Monday with an ad slamming the network for allowing host Lou Dobbs to continue raising questions about President Obama's birth certificate. In the ad, set to begin running on cable today in three cities, the group spotlights Dobbs' recent focus on the so-called "birther" controversy, fueled by right-wing critics of Obama who question whether he is really a citizen.

NEW YORK -- CNN's efforts to position itself as the destination for political news paid off on Super Tuesday when the network drew an average of more than 3.6 million viewers in prime time, beating out its cable news competition. It was the latest in a series of campaign-related wins for CNN, which also pulled in record-setting audiences for its recent presidential primary debates. On Tuesday, the cable news network pulled ahead of top-rated Fox News, which drew nearly 3.

NEW YORK -- Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama aren't the only ones courting swing voters as the 2008 campaign shifts into its next phase. The ferocious battle for cable news viewers is moving into its own general election mode -- and CNN is striving mightily to keep its primary winning streak going. The cable news network was the biggest beneficiary of the drawn-out Democratic primary, averaging 1.11 million prime-time viewers this year, a 50% boost over the same period last year.

'Who is Todd Palin? What is his influence?" CNN's Rick Sanchez asked urgently Tuesday afternoon, just before a commercial break. "What is his tie to AIP, the Alaskan Independence Party?" The anchorman's serious tone and dancing eyebrows -- not to mention a "The Palins and the Fringe" banner across the bottom of the screen -- suggested big surprises. Must-see TV! And all of it coming "right after the break." So I holstered the remote for a couple of minutes and waited to see what CNN was up to.

After a year of explosive audience growth, the cable news channels head into 2009 buoyed by record ratings, a rare bright spot in what has otherwise been a gloomy media season. Thanks largely to avid interest in the historic presidential campaign, all of the networks scored their largest prime-time viewership in history this year -- though they suffered a steep drop in viewers after the election.

CNN apologized Tuesday for mistakenly promoting a story on the search for Osama bin Laden with the headline, "Where's Obama?" A spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said the apology was accepted. The blunder came Monday evening on Wolf Blitzer's news show "The Situation Room." Soledad O'Brien and Blitzer offered separate apologies during CNN's morning show Tuesday. CNN called it a "bad typographical error" by its graphics department.

2006 marked a decline in the cable news audience -- except on MSNBC. Powered by personalities such as Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, the perennially third-place cable news network was the only one of its ilk to expand its audience last year, averaging 262,000 viewers throughout the day, up 7% over 2005. MSNBC grew even more in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic, rising by 11% to an average of 110,000.

Heartened by the success it's found with documentaries about Osama bin Laden and waste in the federal government, CNN is debuting a new weekly investigative series this month to showcase long-form pieces by some of the network's best-known correspondents. "CNN: Special Investigations Unit," which will premiere Jan.

A woman was shot to death by her former boyfriend at CNN's headquarters Tuesday, police said. The armed man was then wounded by a security guard. The man and woman were arguing near the main entrance of the downtown complex when the man shot her, Atlanta Police Officer James Polite said. The woman was pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said. Her former boyfriend, identified as Arthur Mann, was shot by a CNN security guard. He was listed in stable condition.