CNN

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Cable News Network (CNN) is a cable television network that was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1] [2] (although the latter is not currently recognized in CNN's official history). It is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System, owned by Time Warner. CNN is widely credited for introducing the concept of 24-hour news coverage. It celebrated its 25th anniversary on June 1, 2005.

As of December 2004, it is available in 88.2 million U.S. households and more than 890,000 U.S. hotel rooms, and it broadcasts primarily from its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta and from studios in New York City and Washington, DC. Globally, the network has combined branded networks and services that are available to more than 1.5 billion people in over 212 countries and territories. CNN is the most watched 24 Hour News Network in the world.

1 History
2 Management
3 CNN shows
- 3.1 Current CNN shows
- 3.2 Former CNN shows
4 CNN specialized channels
5 CNN personalities
- 5.1 Past
- 5.2 Present
6 Controversies and Allegations of Bias
7 CNN Bureaus within United States
8 CNN Bureaus outside United States
9 Similar networks
10 External links

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History

CNN Covering September 11 attacks

CNN Iraq war coverage

Since CNN's launch on June 1, 1980, the network has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television networks (such as CNN Headline News), 12 web sites, two private place-based networks (such as CNN Airport Network), and two radio networks. The network has 42 bureaus around the world and more than 900 affiliates worldwide. CNN has launched many regional and foreign-language networks around the world. CNN debuted its news website CNN.com (then referred to as CNN Interactive) on August 30, 1995, which it describes as the first major news and information website on the Internet.

CNN's global reputation was greatly enhanced in 1991 during the Gulf War, where its saturation coverage was carried around the world. It obtained much of that coverage through close cooperation with the U.S. government, which led to accusations that it did not attempt to investigate the claims of the U.S. government during the war. There was a television movie, Live from Baghdad, about the network's coverage of the war.

CNN International now provides regional editions of its news service, in response to foreign demand for less U.S.-centric news coverage, and also rival services such as BBC World and Sky News. It uses local reporters in many of its news-gathering centers, though they cover stories from an international (some would still say U.S.) perspective.

On September 11, 2001, CNN was the first network to break news of what would prove to be the September 11 attacks. Anchor Carol Lin was on the air at that time. In fact, as a result of the large amount of news on that day, CNN began running a news ticker, now standard in most broadcasts.

CNN launched two specialty news channels for the American market which would later close amid competitive pressure: CNNSI shut down in 2002, and CNNfn shut down after nine years on the air in December 2004.

CNN has also been parodied. See for instance, Groland and CNNNN. Many movies outside of the Turner Broadcasting Network also mention CNN in their storylines. Ted Turner doesn't mind as long as they don't use CNN for promotional purposes or for malicious use.

The most famous station ID is a five-second musical jingle with James Earl Jones' simple, but classic line, "This is CNN." Jones' voice can still be heard today in updated station IDs.

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Management

The current President of CNN U.S. is Jonathan Klein. He was appointed in November 2004.

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CNN shows

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Current CNN shows

American Morning - The network's morning news program, airing from 7-10am ET. Hosted by former NBC News anchor Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien. Carol Costello provides news updates.
The Situation Room- A fast-paced look at the day's top stories, focusing on politics and homeland security. Anchored by Wolf Blitzer airs weekdays 4-6pm ET,and from 7-8 pm.
Lou Dobbs Tonight - A nightly news and discussion program that airing live at 6pm ET weeknights; evolved from Moneyline, a nightly business newscast.
Paula Zahn Now - A look at the current issues affecting the world, with former CBS and Fox News anchorwoman Paula Zahn. Airing at 8pm ET weeknights.
Larry King Live - A nightly talk program that airs daily at 9pm ET.
Anderson Cooper 360° - A fast-paced, nightly news program with former ABC News reporter Anderson Cooper that, as of November 7th, got moved to 10pm ET and expanded to 2 hours.
Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer - CNN's political talk show, similar to CBS's "Face the Nation" or NBC's "Meet the Press." Airs from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EST on Sundays.
CNN Daybreak - A first look at the day's stories airing live from New York at 5am ET. Hosted by Carol Costello.
CNN Live Today / CNN Live Saturday / CNN Live Sunday - A daily look at what's making news airing live from Atlanta at 10am ET on weekdays and various times on the weekends. Hosted by Daryn Kagan on weekdays and Fredricka Whitfield on weekends.
Live From... - A lively look at the day's stories airing live from Atlanta at 1pm ET. Hosted by Kyra Phillips.
CNN Saturday Morning/CNN Sunday Morning - The network's weekend morning news program, airing at 7am ET. Hosted by Betty Nguyen and Tony Harris.
CNN Saturday Night/CNN Sunday Night - The network's weekend evening news program, airing at 6pm ET and 10pm ET. Hosted by Carol Lin.
CNN Presents - A program that hosts various documentaries and productions, hosted by Aaron Brown. Airs on weekends.
House Call - A medically oriented program, hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Airs on weekends.
On The Story- CNN's interactive "week-in-review" series featuring an in-depth look at the story behind some of the week's biggest stories. Anchored by Joe Johns.

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Former CNN shows

The Capital Gang - One of cable news' longest running programs, focusing on political news. Original panelists included Pat Buchanan, Al Hunt, Mark Shields, and Robert Novak. When Buchanan left the network to run for president, Margaret Carlson and then Kate O'Beirne became regular panelists. The Capital Gang aired Saturday nights at 7pm ET from 1988 to 2005.
Crossfire - A political debate program, consisting of views from left-wing and right-wing ideologies, that aired during primetime and daytime until mid-2005. Former hosts included Robert Novak, Tucker Carlson, James Carville, Paul Begala, Pat Buchanan, Geraldine Ferraro, Bay Buchanan, and Donna Brazile.
Next@CNN - A scientific and technology oriented program hosted by Daniel Sieberg. Aired on weekends.
Inside Politics - A political program that aired from 3:30–5pm ET weekdays.
Wolf Blitzer Reports - A daily look at the day's stories that aired live from Washington at 5pm ET.
NewsNight With Aaron Brown - A hard-news program anchored by Aaron Brown which took an in-depth look at the main U.S. and international stories of the day. Was axed from CNN's schedule on November 5th, 2005 after Brown left the network.

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CNN specialized channels

CNN Airport Network
CNN en Español
CNNfn (Financial network, closed in December 2004)
CNN Headline News
CNN International
CNN Plus (CNN+, a partner network in Spain, launched in 1999 with Sogecable)
CNN Sports Illustrated (a.k.a. CNNSI), the network's all-sports channel, closed in 2002.
CNN Turk
n-tv (CNN owns 27.5% of this news channel in Germany)

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CNN personalities

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Past

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Present

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Controversies and Allegations of Bias

See also: Media bias, Propaganda model

CNN has come under criticism by conservatives for alleged liberal bias. Critics have claimed that CNN's reporting contains liberal editorializing within news stories, and have jokingly referred to CNN as the "Clinton News Network," the "Communist News Network," or "Clearly Not Neutral". Conservatives point to the following as evidence of the alleged bias:

After the Re-Election of U.S President George W. Bush in 2004, CNN's website had pictures of George W. Bush uploaded as "Asshole.jpg". People who tried to save the image onto their harddrive would be prompted to save it under that title.
During the first Gulf War, CNN reporters Bernard Shaw, Peter Arnett, and John Holliman refused to be debriefed by the U.S. military concerning what they saw during their stay at the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad during the initiation of the air campaign, citing themselves as belonging to an "international" news organization and stating it would compromise their journalistic principles. [3] [4]
On August 16, 1997, Chief News Executive Eason Jordan gave a gift to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in an attempt to improve CNN's access to North Korean affairs. [5] (Jordan had been credited in 1996 with gaining exclusive access to North Korea for CNN reporters.)
In January 1998, Lucia Newman [6], the bureau chief in Havana reported that Cuba's single candidate elections were better than the elections with "no dubious campaign spending" and "no mud slinging" in the United States.
In 1999, CNN, in partnership with corporate sister Time magazine, ran a report that Operation Tailwind included use of Sarin gas to kill a group of defectors from the United States military. The story proved untrue, CNN said after a hurried two-week inquiry into the contents of the program, issued a public retraction. [7] and The story's producers, April Oliver and Jack Smith, were summarily sacked.
In 2000, Lou Dobbs left CNN, reportedly due to heated clashes with then-president Rick Kaplan, who was frequently accused by conservatives of allegedly manipulating news programs to present a liberal slant. Dobbs returned the following year at the behest of CNN founder Ted Turner.
In November 2004 at the News Xchange conference in Portugal, Eason Jordan claimed that United States armed forces were arresting and torturing non-coalition Arabic journalists in Iraq. He also claimed that American troops were intentionally killing these journalists. [8] Also at the conference, Chris Cramer, a CNN executive, claimed that journalists were being "deliberately targeted (by the US military) for seeking out the truth." That month, al-Arabiya reporter Abdel Kader al-Saadi had been detained by U.S. forces for 11 days during U.S.-led attacks on Fallujah without comment on cause for his dentention. [9]
On January 27, 2005 Eason Jordan claimed 12 journalists who were killed were actually targeted by United States troops. He resigned from CNN on February 11, 2005 in an effort, he claimed, to spare the network from further controversy. Jordan's comments provoked minor controversy in the US, even among such liberal politicians as Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank.
On March 24, 2005 in an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose, CNN President Jonathan Klein called Fox News Channel's audience "mostly angry white men [who] … tend to be rabid." Klein then said a liberal, progressive TV network would never be as successful as Fox because "progressives don't get too worked up about anything. And they're pretty morally relativistic."
On the September 1, 2005 edition of the show The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer described the Hurricane Katrina victims wading through the flooded streets of New Orleans as such: "… so many of these people, almost all of them that we see, are so poor and they are so black…" [10].