CNN Special Investigations Unit

CNN Special Investigations Unit is an American investigative documentary program on CNN weekends.

Expanding upon CNN Presents, SIU focuses on each episode being an in depth investigative report about news stories being covered, commonly featuring a number of interviews with experts on the issue and people who have witnessed the story taking place. The reports are commonly long-form, allowing for the network to cover more information and perspectives than would be available during a 5-minute report on another CNN program, such as CNN Newsroom.

Compared to Presents, the show has taken a slightly larger point of the reporting being done by CNN reporters, the first commercials promoting the program largely showing pictures of anchors and reporters on locations, asking questions to people on the locations. In addition, the look and feel of the show has changed somewhat drastically, adding more emphasis on the graphics used to present the program itself, in addition to the stories being covered. In addition, presentations on SIU are shorter in length than on Presents, which is now used as a special event for larger special reports that take place on a long-term basis.

Since the program's introduction, the network has slowly shifted towards relabeling past Presents presentations into SIU formatted ones, changing the graphics to reflect the new general label given to long-form reporting done by the network.

Created By

Status

Ended

Original Name

CNN Special Investigations Unit

First Air Date

January 20, 2007

Last Air Date

April 17, 2010

Seasons

7

Episodes

53

Language

English

Production Companies

Networks

CNN

S2010E01

Death And Taxes: Joe Stack's Attack on the IRS

A look at what led 53-year-old Joe Stack to fly his small plane into the IRS building in Austin on Feb. 18, 2010. Included: the manifesto he left behind; interviews with people who knew him as well as with victims of the assault. Abbie Boudreau reports.

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