CNN.com

Last Friday WebNewser offered a preview of the six-months-in-the-making, totally redesigned CNN.com. Well, the curtain has been lifted, and you can go visit the new CNN.com and judge for yourself.

At last Thursday's press unveiling, CNN.com SVP and GM Kenneth "KC" Estenson said one goal was to do a better job highlighting video. Mission accomplished.

As my colleague Kevin Allocca wrote, a beta feature called "NewsPulse" ("like an iTunes for news") enables visitors to see how popular particular stories are. Topping the list Monday morning: "'Jane Doe' found in N.Y. identified," followed by "Morrissey in hospital after collapse."

Several readers asked WebNewser over the weekend whether CNN.com Live was still online. Fear not. You can reach it by typing in the URL yourself (CNN.com/live) or going to the Video and clicking on the "Live on CNN.com" hyperlink below the banner to the right.

The redesigned site also offers a higher profile for iReport, which allows users to submit news articles.

But the real question, as always, is how the new CNN.com is playing in the Twitterverse. Some sample tweets:

"I'm impressed...at first glance it's a very clean, well presented UI." -- @pepperjamceo

"new CNN.com almost gave me a heart attack. Sweet Jesus, when did that happen?" -- @kristinmc

OK, someone cut off Kristen's caffeine supply. We don't want any tragedies.

Call me crazy, but I like CNN.com's redesign. -- @karstendick

Diggin' the new CNN design. Very nice. Give me a solid grid and I'm happy. -- @AisleOne

The newly redesigned CNN.com: Lipstick on a pig. Just sayin'. -- @tindogcoffee

"CNN.com re-design goes live tom'w, promises 'easier access to stories about car chases and missing white children.'" -- @willmckinley

You have to admit that last one is funny.

After six months in development, the new CNN.com will arrive on Monday and it was "unveiled" to the press last evening at an event in Manhattan.

This latest iteration of the site is not too different from its predecessors, except that it will do a better job of highlighting previously buried content and video. The homepage will feature three columns: one for breaking news, one for features and video, and one for customizable weather, sports, and news content. There will also be topic boxes, which better organize stories from many categories across the site.

There are some new additions. Adapting what was learned building CNNPolitics, the new site will feature CNNOpinions and CNNEntertainment, which will deliver content from a partnership with EW and People.

The new site will feature an area of "first person storytelling," which includes web series like "Americans in Afghanistan" about NGOs and "Freshman Year," about freshmen congressmen.

Describing the current site as "a machine that spits out breaking news," Kenneth "KC" Estenson, the dynamic SVP and GM of CNN.com, told the crowd, "We're gonna be there in Iraq. We're gonna be there in Afghanistan. We're gonna be there for the seminal moments of time. But, it's this type of content that shows the distinctive breadth and reach that we think is unique to CNN."

We sat down with Estenson after the unveiling, and he told us that CNN decided to hold back updates over the six-month development to release them in a big way like this. "I think at a news organization, it's usually breaking news that drives innovation," he said. "We're trying to detach those things and put out products off the news cycle that we just think are great consumer experiences and get them ready so when we have breaking news...you're going to see that on the homepage."

Photo and more after the jump.

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Producers can now browse the CNN ImageSource video archive whenever they want, wherever they want, following CNN's launch of a free, on-demand, online customization service.

The CNN ImageSource site offers more than 500,000 items, made up of both CNN-owned footage and content from its more than 650 U.S. news affiliates. The archive also contains content on science and technology, business, travel, entertainment, sports and user-generated content from CNN's iReport.

CNN ImageSource vice president for licensing and content sales David Sheehan said:

With an expansive archive of CNN's award-winning reporting and compelling stock footage, CNN ImageSource is in the unique position to now offer an easy-to-use Website for producers to research video on their own schedule, and customize and download screener material to their desktop for free at any time.

Here's the latest on Rick Sanchez's Twitter account, which appeared this afternoon to have been suspended. From a CNN PR person:

His Twitter feed does appear to be displaying an error message - we're looking into it and hope to be connected again soon.

Btw, Rick was able to log in and see his tweets; this appears to be affecting users viewing the site online....

So @ricksanchezcnn works only for Rick Sanchez, which to me means it still doesn't work. But at least it's not suspended, according to his spokesperson.

Here's the original, panicky post.

CNN's Rick Sanchez is one of the most popular people on Twitter, with more than 112,000 followers. Now those followers are being led into a void.

Here's the message anyone going to @ricksanchezcnn got today:

Sorry, the account you were headed to has been suspended due to strange activity. Mosey along now, nothing to see here.

Unlike most celebrities with large followings, Sanchez follows a lot of people -- more than 45,000.

The first mention on Twitter of his account being suspended came shortly after 3 p.m. today.

WebNewser will try to find out what's going on and report back. It could be a hack; it wouldn't be the first time Sanchez's account was attacked.

Sanchez also was the recent target of an anonymous account whose owner highlights a 1990 accident in which the car Sanchez was driving struck a pedestrian who eventually died from his injuries. That account has been shut down.

In the meantime, Twitterers who haven't seen the "suspended account" message on @ricksanchezcnn continue to converse, berate and argue with Sanchez. It's sorta funny.

The dust-up between Fox News Channel and Rick Sanchez got uglier over the weekend after an anonymous Twitter account was created to highlight a 1990 accident in which the car Sanchez was driving struck a pedestrian who eventually died from his injuries.

Last Friday Fox ran a full-page ad in the Washington Post bragging about its coverage of the Tea Party protests the weekend before in Washington, D.C. In the ad Fox alleged its competitors ignored the march (presumably for ideological reasons). The ad text read: "HOW DID ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN MISS THIS STORY?"

Fox's ad on Friday prompted a stinging response (video below) later that night from from Sanchez, who condemned "the fools who perpetuate falsehoods" and appropriated U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's two-word outburst during President Obama's address to Congress by telling Fox, "You lie."

The very next day the anonymous Twitter account was launched. The bio of the account states: "Rick Sanchez: Drunk driving, Hit N'Run...dude ended up dying...now anchors at CNN 3PM"

The creator of "wreksanchez" was busy over the weekend, tweeting 268 times through last night. Some samples:

rick sanchez has been lying to all of his viewers about his past...google his name and drunk driving

@ricksanchezCNN is not a news anchor, he's a comedian for the events of the day...followed closely by his twitter/facebook possee

@ricksanchezCNN is a hero to many terrorists/criminals around the world and in prison.

I'm trying to prove that this man (@ricksanchezcnn) isnt worthy of giving us the news when hes commited such a notrocious act

While the accident did happen, it hardly has been covered up or hidden. It's mentioned in Sanchez's Wikipedia entry and the Miami Herald covered it extensively (Sanchez was a news anchor at a Miami station at the time).

It's hard to understand how this is relevant to the dispute between Fox and Sanchez. Perhaps the anonymous creator of the account should come forward to explain the connection. Otherwise we're left to assume it's nothing more than a smear job to discredit someone who called Fox on its inaccurate ad in the Post.

"Notrocious" indeed.

The CNN Wire Store is open for business. CNN launched its commercial self-service online storefront for its wire stories, making them available for licensing and downloading for $199 apiece for a single use, with payment via credit card.

Users can browse through selected articles, fill a cart for review and download story content on-demand, CNN said.

CNN Newsource Sales—which oversees the network's relationship with more than 800 affiliates throughout North America, including TV stations and local and regional cable news channels—will support CNN Wire Store.

CNN News Services executive vice president Susan Grant said:

CNN understands the changing business landscape of journalism and the marketplace. The expanded CNN Wire provides an opportunity for a new platform to make CNN Wire stories easily accessible and, for the first time, on a per-story basis to any publisher, anywhere on their own timetable. With the launch of the CNN Wire Store Website, we've made our original journalism easily available to other publishers on demand.

CNN.com Live will change its name and cut the number of hours it streams live video online, WebNewser has been told.

The name change will come on Oct. 24, when the CNN.com site relaunches, according to our source. While it has been decided that CNN.com will be rechristened "CNN," the new name for CNN.com Live has not been determined.

Currently CNN.com Live streams live anchored news from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. These hours will be reduced, "perhaps significantly," our source said, adding that while "no layoffs are planned, job titles and duties will change for many."

CNN.com Live staffers were informed of the changes Tuesday at a meeting that generated "significant angst" and "more questions than answers," our source reported.

CNN spokesperson Jennifer Martin declined to comment. CNN is owned by TimeWarner.

Los Angeles Times managing editor, online Meredith Artley will join CNN.com next month as vice president and managing editor, where she will lead editorial strategy from headquarters in Atlanta, reporting directly to CNN.com senior VP and general manager KC Estenson.

Artley joined the Los Angeles Times in March 2007 and was responsible for all editorial initiatives, from the vision of the site to the daily execution, as well as its recently unveiled redesign.

Prior to the Times, she was digital-development director for the International Herald Tribune's Web operation in Paris, where she led strategy and day-to-day editorial execution. She also served as associate editor at The New York Times' NYTimes.com, where she managed its team of producers and editors.

Estenson said:

CNN is where the world goes to find out what's happening now, and Meredith will complement an incredibly talented editorial leadership team as we continue to set the standard in multiplatform journalism. I'm confident that her innovation, vision and approach to reporting and storytelling—along with her editorial leadership—will enable us to deliver the caliber of content our users expect, while introducing CNN stories to an ever-growing new audience.

And Artley added:

CNN is a global news powerhouse, and the opportunity to lead the editorial effort for their site is a challenge I'm enthusiastic about taking on. I'm excited to help their talented journalists, technologists and business teams to deliver news and information in fresh and dynamic ways.

CNN is getting ready to judge President Barack Obama's second 100 days in office, starting online voting and launching a Facebook application that will allow users of that social-networking service to grade Obama, Congress and other elected officials on how the president's second 100 days in office have been handled and the country's progress directly from their user profiles.

CNN.com is providing an interactive library with stories, graphics and videos to help users make informed voting decisions, as well as in-depth examinations of Obama's first year in office.

In addition, CNNMoney.com will provide in-depth coverage of Obama's initiatives on the economy and help viewers and readers to rate the administration's progress, and user-generated news community iReport.com is encouraging its users to upload first-person video report cards to explain what motivated their grading, with the potential for their material to appear on a CNN network or CNN.com.

The CNN National Report Card: Second 100 Days will air on CNN Thursday from 8 p.m.-10 p.m.