The Cable News Network (CNN) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner.[1] The 24-hour cable news channel was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner.[2][3] Upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage,[4] and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.[5]
While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta, the Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. CNN is sometimes referred to as CNN/U.S. to distinguish the American channel from its international sister network, CNN International. As of August 2010, CNN is available in over 100 million U.S. households.[6] Broadcast coverage of the U.S. channel extends to over 890,000 American hotel rooms,[6] as well as carriage on cable and satellite providers throughout Canada. Globally, CNN programming airs through CNN International, which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories.[7]
As of August 2013, CNN is available to approximately 98,496,000 cable, satellite and telco television households (86% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.[8]
The Cable News Network was launched at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channel’s first newscast.[9] Burt Reinhardt, the executive vice president of CNN at its launch, hired most of the channel’s first 200 employees, including the network’s first news anchor, Bernard Shaw.[10]
Since its debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television providers, several websites, and specialized closed-circuit channels (such as CNN Airport). The company has 36 bureaus (10 domestic, 26 international), more than 900 affiliated local stations (which also receive news and features content via the video newswire service CNN Newssource), and several regional and foreign-language networks around the world. The channel’s success made a bona-fide mogul of founder Ted Turner and set the stage for conglomerate Time Warner’s eventual acquisition of the Turner Broadcasting System in 1996.
A companion channel, CNN2, was launched on January 1, 1982 and featured a continuous 24-hour cycle of 30-minute news broadcasts. The channel, which later became known as CNN Headline News and is now known as simply HLN, eventually focused on live news coverage supplemented by personality-based programs during the evening and primetime hours.
On January 28, 1986, CNN carried the only live television coverage of the launch and subsequent explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger, which killed all seven crew members on board.
On October 14, 1987, Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old toddler, fell down a well in Midland, Texas. CNN quickly reported on the story, and the event helped make its name. The New York Times ran a retrospective article in 1995 on the impact of live video news:
[11]
The first Persian Gulf War in 1991 was a watershed event for CNN that catapulted the channel past the “Big Three” American networks for the first time in its history, largely due to an unprecedented, historical scoop: CNN was the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq during the initial hours of the Coalition bombing campaign, with live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad by reporters Bernard Shaw, John Holliman, Peter Arnett and Charles Jaco.
The moment when bombing began was announced on CNN by Bernard Shaw on January 16, 1991 as follows:[12]
Because it was unable to immediately broadcast live pictures from Baghdad, CNN’s coverage of the initial hours of the Gulf War had the dramatic feel of a radio broadcast – and was compared to legendary CBS news anchor Edward R. Murrow’s gripping live radio reports of the German bombing of London during World War II. Despite the lack of live pictures, CNN’s coverage was carried by television stations and networks around the world, resulting in CNN being watched by over a billion viewers worldwide – a feat that led to the subsequent creation of CNN International.
The Gulf War experience brought CNN some much sought-after legitimacy and made household names of previously obscure reporters. Many of these reporters now comprise CNN’s “old guard.” Bernard Shaw became CNN’s chief anchor until his retirement in 2001. Others include then-Pentagon correspondent Wolf Blitzer (now host of The Situation Room) and international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour’s presence in Iraq was caricatured by actress Nora Dunn in the role of the ruthless reporter Adriana Cruz in the 1999 film Three Kings. Time Warner-owned sister network HBO later produced a television movie, Live from Baghdad, about CNN’s coverage of the first Gulf War.
Coverage of the first Gulf War and other crises of the early 1990s (particularly the infamous Battle of Mogadishu) led officials at the Pentagon to coin the term “the CNN effect” to describe the perceived impact of real time, 24-hour news coverage on the decision-making processes of the American government.
CNN was the first cable news channel to break the news of the September 11 attacks.[13] Anchor Carol Lin was on the air to deliver the first public report of the event. She broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. Eastern Time that morning and said:
Sean Murtagh, CNN vice president of finance and administration, was the first network employee on the air. He called into CNN Center from his office at CNN’s New York City bureau and reported that a commercial jet had hit the Trade Center.[14]
Daryn Kagan and Leon Harris were live on the air just after 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time as the second plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center and through an interview with CNN correspondent David Ensor, reported the news that U.S. officials determined “that this is a terrorist act.”[15] Later, Aaron Brown anchored through the day and night as the attacks unfolded. Brown had just joined CNN from ABC to serve as the breaking news anchor.
Paula Zahn assisted in the September 11, 2001, coverage on her first day as a CNN reporter, a fact that she mentioned as a guest clue presenter on a 2005 episode of Jeopardy!.
CNN has made archival files of much of the day’s broadcast available in five segments, plus an overview.
Leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, CNN devoted large amounts of its coverage to politics, including hosting candidate debates during the Democratic and Republican primary seasons. On June 3 and 5, CNN teamed up with Saint Anselm College to sponsor the New Hampshire Republican and Democratic Debates.[16] Later in 2007, the channel hosted the first CNN-YouTube presidential debates, a non-traditional format where viewers were invited to pre-submit questions over the internet via the YouTube video-sharing service.[17] In 2008, CNN partnered with the Los Angeles Times to host two primary debates leading up to its coverage of Super Tuesday.[18] CNN’s debate and election night coverage led to its highest ratings of the year, with January 2008 viewership averaging 1.1 million viewers, a 41% increase over the previous year.[18]
CNN again devoted large amounts of coverage to the 2012 U.S. Presidential campaign. Chief political correspondent Candy Crowley acted as moderator for one of the three debates between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Some conservatives viewed her as overly partisan/biased due to her attempts at correcting statements by both candidates on the 2012 Benghazi consulate attack.[19]
CNN’s current weekday schedule consists mostly of rolling news programming during daytime hours, followed by more in-depth news and interview programs during the evening and primetime hours.
The network’s morning programming consists of Early Start, an early-morning news program hosted by John Berman and Christine Romans, which is followed by New Day, the network’s morning show, hosted by Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira. Most of CNN’s late-morning and early afternoon programming consists of CNN Newsroom, a rolling news program hosted in blocks by various anchors, however as of 2013, the network began to rework its daytime programming to include more distinct shows, beginning with the spin-off of Ashleigh Banfield’s hour-long block of Newsroom as Legal View in August 2013 (with an emphasis on legal issues and court cases), the introduction of Around the World, a new hour-long program focusing on international headlines, and a new hour of Newsroom hosted by Wolf Blitzer. Further changes to CNN’s daytime lineup occurred on February 10, 2014, with the cancellation of Around the World, the move of Legal View to its former 12 p.m. Eastern Time slot, the introduction of @ThisHour with John Berman and Michaela Pereira at 11 a.m. Eastern, and the relaunch of Blitzer’s show as Wolf at 1 p.m. Eastern.[20][21][22]
CNN’s late afternoon and early evening lineup consists of The Lead, hosted by Jake Tapper and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. The network’s evening and primetime lineup shifts towards more in-depth programming, including Erin Burnett OutFront and[23] Anderson Cooper 360°, along with the sports-related Unguarded with Rachel Nichols on Friday nights at 10:30 eastern and pacific. In March 2014, a number of changes occurred to CNN’s evening and primetime lineup, primarily to accommodate additional coverage of the Flight MH370 disappearance; Crossfire was placed on hiatus from March 11 through May 1, the two Monday-night pilot series, The Don Lemon Show and Making the Case, were aborted shortly after their premieres, and as was previously planned, Piers Morgan Live was cancelled, airing its final episode of March 28, 2014. The 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern timeslots were occupied in the interim by documentary-style series such as Chicagoland, Death Row Stories, The Sixties, and occasional special reports.[24][25][26][27][28]
On April 11, 2014 during its upfronts presentation, CNN officially announced a permanent shift towards factual programming in the 9 p.m. Eastern timeslot, including new programs such as The Hunt with John Walsh, This Is Life with Lisa Ling and Mike Rowe’s Somebody’s Gotta Do It, and a new documentary series, The Jesus Code. Jeff Zucker explained that this new lineup was intended to shift CNN away from a reliance on pundit-oriented programs, and attract younger demographics to the network. Despite this, Zucker emphasized a continuing commitment to news programming, especially during breaking news events (where the 9 p.m. hour can be pre-empted for special coverage), and the addition of CNN Tonight, a new live program at 10 p.m. hosted by Don Lemon. These changes coincided with the introduction of a new imaging campaign for the network, featuring the slogan “Go there”.[29][30][31]
CNN’s weekend lineup also consists primarily of Newsroom, along with the medical program Sanjay Gupta MD and the finance-oriented Your Money. Weekend primetime is dedicated mostly to factual programming, including the reality series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, along with topical documentaries and specials under banners such as CNN Presents, CNN Special Investigations Unit and CNN Films. The network’s Sunday morning lineup consists primarily of political talk shows, including Inside Politics with John King, State of the Union with Candy Crowley, the interview program Fareed Zakaria GPS, and the media analysis program Reliable Sources.
In December 2008, CNN introduced a comprehensive redesign of its on-air appearance, which replaced an existing style that had been used since 2004. On-air graphics took a rounded, flat look in a predominantly black, white, and red color scheme, and the introduction of a new box next to the CNN logo for displaying show logos and segment-specific graphics, rather than as a large banner above the lower-third. The redesign also replaced the scrolling ticker with a static “flipper”, which could either display a feed of news headlines (both manually inserted and taken from the RSS feeds of CNN.com), or “topical” details related to a story.[32][33]
CNN’s next major redesign was introduced on January 10, 2011, replacing the dark, flat appearance of the 2008 look with a glossier, blue and white color scheme, and moving the secondary logo box to the opposite end of the screen. Additionally, the network began to solely produce its programming in the 16:9 aspect ratio, with standard definition feeds using a letterboxed version of the HD feed.[33] On February 18, 2013, the “flipper” was dropped and reverted to a scrolling ticker; originally displayed as a blue background with white text, the ticker was reconfigured a day later with blue text on a white background to match the look of the ‘flipper’.[34]
On August 11, 2014, CNN introduced its most recent graphics package, dropping the glossy appearance for a flat, rectangular scheme incorporating red, white, and black colors, and the Gotham typeface. The ticker now alternates between general headlines and financial news from CNNMoney, and the secondary logo box was replaced with a smaller box below the CNN bug, which displays either the title, hashtag, or Twitter handle for the show being aired or its anchor.[35]
On July 27, 2012, CNN president Jim Walton announced that he was quitting, after a 30-year tenure at the network. Walton remained with CNN until the end of that year.[42] In January 2013, former NBCUniversal president Jeff Zucker replaced Walton.[43]
On January 29, 2013, longtime political analysts James Carville and Mary Matalin, and fellow political contributor Erick Erickson were let go by CNN.[44]
CNN HD is a high definition simulcast feed of CNN that broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format, it was launched in September 2007.[45] All studio shows are broadcast in HD, as well as special event telecasts.
In late 2010, CNN/U.S. became is available in high definition to viewers in Japan under the name CNN HD. Whether this is a one-off case or the beginning of an international rollout of CNN HD with more countries to come is unclear. Formerly during American Morning, CNN HD viewers saw weather forecasts in a graphical pillarbox on the sides of the screen (forecasts for American cities were shown on the right fringe, and forecasts for cities outside of the U.S. on the left). This feature was removed in November 2009.
The documentary Planet in Peril was the first CNN documentary program to be produced in HD, followed by Black in America (its sequel Black in America 2 also aired in HD). Its spinoff Latino in America was also broadcast in HD. Until February 28, 2009, CNN HD also used to display a customized version of the CNN logo bug (the normal CNN logo with the letters “HD” in a gray Helvetica font to its right) on the bottom left corner of the screen.
All special event programming on CNN is broadcast in full HD. During primary and caucus nights, America Votes 2008 was produced in HD with Wolf Blitzer anchoring from CNN’s main New York City studio, which was renamed the CNN Election Center. During this time, stylized pillarboxes were visible to CNN HD viewers on each side of the screen that displayed additional information such as poll numbers, charts and graphs. This also happened for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the 2008 Republican National Convention, the 2008 United States Presidential Debates, the 2008 United States Vice Presidential Debate and the 2008 Election Day coverage on November 4, all of which were also shot in HD. Other special events such as Presidential speeches and press conferences are televised in HD.
CNN’s political coverage in HD was given mobility by the introduction of the CNN Election Express bus in October 2007. The Election Express vehicle, capable of five simultaneous HD feeds, was used for the channel’s CNN-YouTube presidential debates and for presidential candidate interviews.[46]
Upon its launch, cable and satellite carriage of CNN’s HD feed was initially limited. In mid-September 2007, DirecTV became the first provider to carry the feed.[45] By June 2008, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, AT&T U-verse, Midcontinent Communications, Bright House Networks and Dish Network in the United States and Rogers Cable in Canada had begun carrying CNN HD.[47][48] CNN is also rebroadcast on the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Barbados during the midday and evening hours.
CNN launched its website, CNN.com (initially an experiment known as CNN Interactive), on August 30, 1995. The site attracted growing interest over its first decade and is now one of the most popular news websites in the world. The widespread growth of blogs, social media and user-generated content have influenced the site, and blogs in particular have focused CNN’s previously scattershot online offerings, most noticeably in the development and launch of CNN Pipeline in late 2005.
In April 2009, CNN.com ranked third place among online global news sites in unique users in the U.S., according to Nielsen/NetRatings; with an increase of 11% over the previous year.[49]
CNN Pipeline was the name of a paid subscription service, its corresponding website, and a content delivery client that provided streams of live video from up to four sources (or “pipes”), on-demand access to CNN stories and reports, and optional pop-up “news alerts” to computer users. The installable client was available to users of PCs running Microsoft Windows. There was also a browser-based “web client” that did not require installation. The service was discontinued in July 2007, and was replaced with a free streaming service.
The topical news program Judy Woodruff’s Inside Politics was the first CNN program to feature a round-up of blogs in 2005.[50] Blog coverage was expanded when Inside Politics was folded into The Situation Room (Inside Politics later returned to CNN in 2014, this time hosted by the network’s chief national correspondent John King.[51]). In 2006, CNN launched CNN Exchange and CNN iReport, initiatives designed to further introduce and centralize the impact of everything from blogging to citizen journalism within the CNN brand. CNN iReport which features user-submitted photos and video, has achieved considerable traction, with increasingly professional-looking reports filed by amateur journalists, many still in high school or college. The iReport gained more prominence when observers of the Virginia Tech shootings sent-in first hand photos of what was going on during the shootings.[52]
In early 2008, CNN began maintaining a live streaming broadcast available to cable and satellite subscribers who receive CNN at home (a precursor to the TV Everywhere services that would become popularized by cable and satellite providers beginning with Time Warner’s incorporation of the medium).[53] CNN International is broadcast live, as part of the RealNetworks SuperPass subscription service outside the U.S. CNN also offers several RSS feeds and podcasts.
On April 18, 2008, CNN.com was targeted by Chinese hackers in retaliation for the channel’s coverage on the 2008 Tibetan unrest. CNN reported that they took preventative measures after news broke of the impending attack.[54][55]
The company was honored at the 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for development and implementation of an integrated and portable IP-based live, edit and store-and-forward digital news gathering (DNG) system.[56] The first use of what would later win CNN this award was in April 2001 when CNN correspondent Lisa Rose Weaver[57] covered, and was detained,[58] for the release of the U.S. Navy crew of a damaged electronic surveillance plane after the Hainan Island incident. The technology consisted of a videophone produced by 7E Communications Ltd of London, UK.[59] This DNG workflow is used today by the network to receive material worldwide using an Apple MacBook Pro, various prosumer and professional digital cameras, software from Streambox Inc., and BGAN terminals from Hughes Network Systems.
On October 24, 2009, CNN launched a new version of the CNN.com website; the revamped site included the addition of a new “sign up” option, in which users can create their own username and profile, and a new “CNN Pulse” (beta) feature, along with a new red color theme.[60] However, most of the news stories archived on the website were deleted.
CNN also has a channel in the popular video-sharing site YouTube, but its videos can only be viewed in the United States, a source of criticism among YouTube users worldwide.
In April 2010, CNN announced via Twitter that it would launch a food blog called “Eatocracy,” which will “cover all news related to food – from recalls to health issues to culture.”[61] CNN had an internet relay chat (IRC) network at chat.cnn.com. CNN placed a live chat with Benjamin Netanyahu on the network in 1998.[62]
In October 2012, CNN formed a film division called CNN Films to distribute and produce made-for-TV and feature documentaries. Its first acquisition was a documentary entitled Girl Rising, a documentary narrated by Meryl Streep that focused on the struggles of girls’ education.[63]
Over the years, CNN has launched spin-off networks in the United States and other countries. Channels that currently operate as of 2014[update] include:
CNN has also launched television and online ventures that are no longer in operation, including:
CNN launched two specialty news channels for the American market which would later close amid competitive pressure: the sports news channel CNNSI shut down in 2002, while business news channel CNNfn shut down after nine years on the air in December 2004. CNN continues to maintain a partnership with Sports Illustrated through the sports website CNNSI.com. CNNfn’s former website now redirects to money.cnn.com, a product of CNN’s strategic partnership with Money magazine. Money and Sports Illustrated were both Time Warner properties until 2014, when the company’s magazine division was spun off into the separate Time Inc.
Many of the following bureaus have been closed or – due to the financial crisis – had their budget cut:
In parts of the world without a CNN bureau, reports from local affiliate station the network will be used to file a story.
In a joint study by the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University and the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the authors found disparate treatment by the three major cable channels of Republican and Democratic candidates during the earliest five months of presidential primaries in 2007:
[67]
CNN is one of the world’s largest news organizations, and its international channel, CNN International is the leading international news channel in terms of viewer reach.[68][69] CNN International makes extensive use of affiliated reporters that are local to, and often directly affected by, the events they are reporting. The effect is a more immediate, less detached style of on-the-ground coverage. This has done little to stem criticism, largely from Middle Eastern nations, that CNN International reports news from a pro-American perspective. This is a marked contrast to domestic criticisms that often portray CNN as having a “liberal” or “anti-American” bias.
As said by CNN founder Ted Turner, “There really isn’t much of a point getting some Tom, Dick or Harry off the streets to report on when we can snag a big name whom everyone identifies with. After all, it’s all part of the business.” However, in April 2008, Turner criticized the direction that CNN has taken.[70] Others have echoed that criticism, especially in light of CNN’s ratings declines since the late 2000s.
On April 24, 2008 beautician Liang Shubing and teacher Li Lilan sued commentator Jack Cafferty and CNN for $1.3 billion damages ($1 per person in China), in New York, for “violating the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people”. This was in response to an incident during CNN’s “The Situation Room” on April 9, where Cafferty stated his opinion that “[the USA] continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food” despite his view that “[the Chinese leaders were] basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years”. Further, amid China’s Foreign Ministry demand for an apology, 14 lawyers filed a similar suit in Beijing.[71][72]
In June 2009, musician M.I.A. stated she did an hour-long interview with CNN condemning the mass bombing and Tamil civilian fatalities at the hands of Government forces in Sri Lanka in 16 weeks the same year, “and they cut it down to one minute and made it about my single Paper Planes. When I went to the Grammys, I saw the same reporter from CNN, and I was like, ‘Why did you do that?’ And she said, ‘Because you used the G-word.'” “Genocide. I guess you’re not allowed to say that on CNN,” raising questions concerning CNN’s coverage and commitment to free speech.[73][74]
On November 11, 2009, longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs resigned on-air after discussions with network President Jonathan Klein, who had agreed to release Dobbs from his contract “that will enable me to pursue new opportunities.” He had previously expressed to Klein that he wished to go “the opinion route”. Dobbs’ advocacy journalism-style coverage of immigration, Obama birthers and free trade topics has attracted controversy both to him and to CNN.[75][76]
On July 7, 2010, Octavia Nasr, senior Middle East editor and a CNN journalist for 20 years, was fired after she expressed on her Twitter account admiration for a liberal-minded Muslim cleric who had recently died, casting doubts on the company’s commitment to freedom of speech.[77]
On October 1, 2010, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez was fired after remarks he made during an interview with comedian Pete Dominick on a radio show the previous day about prejudices he faced during his television career, at CNN and jokes about him by comedian Jon Stewart. Calling him a “bigot” before retracting this and describing him instead as “prejudiced” and “uninformed”, the interviewer invoked Stewart’s faith as an example of how Stewart was “a minority as much as you are”. Sanchez stated his view that Jewish people were not an oppressed minority in America, and his view that “everybody that runs CNN is a lot like Stewart” before stating “And a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart.”[78]
In October 2011, Amber Lyon told a European news service that she had been directed by CNN to report selectively, repetitively, and falsely in order to sway public opinion in favor of direct American aggression against Iran and Syria,[79] and that this was common practice under CNN. She subsequently reconfirmed this in detail, addressing the degraded state of journalistic ethics in an interview with American radio host Alex Jones,[80] during which she also discussed the Bahraini episode, suggesting paid-for content was also taken from Georgia, Kazakhstan and other states, that the War on Terrorism had also been employed as a pretext to pre-empt substantive investigative journalism within the U.S., and that following the Bahrain reporting, her investigative department had been terminated and “reorganized”, and her severance and employee benefits used as a threat to intimidate and attempt to purchase her subsequent silence.
Lyon had met with Tony Maddox, president of CNN International, twice about this issue in 2011 and had claimed that during the second meeting she was threatened and intimated to stop speaking on the matter.[81] Lyon spoke heavily on RT about this, claiming that CNN reporters, headed by Maddox, have been instructed to over-cover Iran as a form of propaganda and that CNN International has been paid by the Bahraini government to produce and air news segments intentionally painting them in a positive light.[82]
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