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CNN Appoints Rolando Santos as Senior Vice President, International Relations
September 11, 2006
Rolando Santos is joining CNN International as senior vice president, international relations, it was announced today by Chris Cramer, managing director of CNN International. In this role, Santos will play an integral part in the development of future CNN services around the world while working closely with CNN’s International affiliates and joint venture partnerships.
Santos, currently executive vice president and general manager of Headline News, takes up his new role with CNN in mid-September.
"Rolando has unrivaled experience in the creation of numerous CNN services, including CNN en Español in 1997, CNN + in Spain and CNN Turk in 1999," Cramer said. "As we continue to build upon CNN’s international heritage and global influence, he is the perfect choice to work alongside our worldwide partners, affiliates and colleagues."
As a member of CNN International’s senior management group, Santos will work closely with Turner Broadcasting’s global business development teams identifying potential new platforms and editorial partnerships. He will also assume editorial liaison with some of CNN’s sister channels, CNN-IBN in India and CNN Turk in Turkey and will oversee CNN’s International Professional Program, which brings together journalists from around the world for hands-on editorial training in Atlanta
"I have enjoyed working in the international arena and helping launch so many successful CNN services around the world and, more recently, building Headline News into the dynamic news channel that it has become," Santos said. "This is the perfect opportunity to return and help shape CNN’s international growth and future."
Since 2002 Santos has served as executive vice president and general manager of Headline News, responsible for its development and overall operations. Prior to that he was president of CNN en Español, CNN’s 24-hour Spanish-language news network, where he oversaw all daily operations and editorial content of CNN en Español and CNN en Español Radio. He was also played a significant role in the development and launch of new international news networks such as CNN+ and CNN Turk.
Additionally, he oversaw the Spanish-language newsgathering operations, including a fully bilingual staff in Atlanta, a worldwide network of Spanish-speaking correspondents and eight full-service bureaus in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington, D.C., Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, London and Mexico City.
Before joining CNN, Santos was executive producer for network news for Telemundo and the liaison between Telemundo and CNN for their jointly produced network newscasts. Before this, he was news director at KVEA Channel 52, a Telemundo-owned and operated station in Los Angeles.
Born in Eagle Pass, Texas, Santos is fluent in Spanish. Hispanic Magazine recently named Santos one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States. He is a former winner of a UPI regional award in the category of best writing and has received numerous other awards for live reporting.
He earned a bachelor of arts in journalism from the Texas A&M University.
CNN Worldwide, 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 nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; four Web sites, including CNN.com, the first major news and information Web site; CNN Pipeline, an on-demand broadband video service; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and partnerships for four television networks and one Web site.
