Today marks the 30th anniversary of CNN going on the air. It’s hard (OK, impossible if you’re under 35 or so) to think of a time when the news wasn’t 24/7 but until CNN came along, you had to wait for Uncle Walter or Huntley/Brinkley to tell you what had happened on TV. Maybe you picked up the afternoon paper to see what had happened as late as that morning.
In a strange way, this day 30 years ago sort of marks the start of the world as we know it today. Everything is RIGHT NOW and non-stop and that was CNN from minute one. I remember watching it as it came on the air (it was a Sunday). Ted Turner put it on the air with a sense of global unity – much the same spirit he tried to foster through The Goodwill Games – and there is no question that the world is a smaller place because of the proximity CNN brings to everything (full disclosure – Turner, though not CNN, is a client).
The notion of the 24/7 news cycle was born on that day and Twitter is just its latest incarnation. CNN itself has gone through a number of transformations and I think they still do a great job of bringing the news in real-time across a lot of platforms both TV and digital (their inauguration coverage last year across multiple channels was spectacular). Dissolving borders between nations and between you and information – not a bad way to spend 30 years.
Happy birthday and many more!
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Consult Keith 