CNN is in advanced talks to buy a social news site, according to sources familiar with the talks, The New York Times reports. The site is Mashable.

The story reports: “Mashable, which specializes in stories about technology and social media, could bolster CNN.com, which is one of the most popular news websites in the United States. An acquisition of Mashable would make a statement about CNN’s interest in startups and social media.”

A CNN acquisition of Mashable could be announced as early as Tuesday, according to a Reuters blogger cited in the Times story. Early today, CNN declined to comment on the potential acquisition but denied that an announcement would be made Tuesday.

The Times story adds: “Mashable, which is seven years old and is privately held, would be CNN.com’s largest acquisition to date. Last fall, CNN.com acquired Zite, a company that made an iPad app that determines what its users want to read and view, for a price that was estimated to be between $20 million and $25 million. Mashable would cost CNN far more to acquire.”