Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News
by Lisa Napoli
Published by Abrams Press on May 12, 2020
CNN // Non-Fiction // News
Fascinating glimpse into the origins of CNN and our deepening appetite for news.
Two things in this gripping book stand out:
“Critics had wondered if there would be enough material to fill each night’s broadcast, and local affiliates balked at having to generate a longer newscast of their own—until they realized a longer broadcast would plunk more advertising revenue into their coffers.”
That insight was prompted by Walter Cronkite’s coverage of JFK’s assassination. That was a HUGE event and suddenly a 30 minute newscast at 6:30 wasn’t exactly going to cut it.
(Interestingly the Zapruder film did not air on local television in Chicago until 1970, and then on national television in 1975.)
Decades later Ted Turner proposed a 24/7 News Network.
And it wasn’t an attractive idea: “It wasn’t just that they didn’t believe in this far-fetched notion. It was difficult to imagine an audience for round-the-clock news—since news frequently ranked among viewers’ least favorite programming.”
More than just CNN’s origins it’s fascinating to see how our tastes have evolved.
I can’t stand CNN but I’ll hunt down documentaries: the news is like a YouTuber reacting to an MCU trailer. I’m a grown man: what am I supposed to with that?
But a dope documentary is (potentially) the whole story. Yes.
Wild times man. Make a tea and check out this book.
–28-
Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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