For younger generations the thought of life without 24-hour news channels is completely foreign, but Boomers were fortunate enough to witness the beginning of the 24-hour news channel.
In 1980, a visionary, Ted Turner, went on the air with his media invention - CNN (Cable News Network) - the first 24-hour news channel.
Ted Turner passed away on May 6, 2026 at the age of 87. Whenever a famous person passes away we are invited to remember his or her accomplishments. Make no mistake about it - Ted Turner was a man with a unique idea for news coverage. His idea for news coverage would forever change the news media - mostly for the better. But Ted Turner had his critics and there was a lot of skepticism about whether a 24-hour cable news channel would be successful. Within 5 years, CNN was earning a profit and becoming the news outlet to count on for news updates any time of day or night and for coverage of breaking news stories.
Before CNN, Americans made appointments to watch the 30-minute evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC. Each network crammed a variety of brief news stories into 30 minutes. What CNN did was allow for expanded news stories with more details and a sense of community whenever there was a breaking story that Americans were following.
A few of the image-building news stories that CNN covered include:
In 1986 - the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. By 1986, Space Shuttle launches were so routine that the three major networks no longer covered the launches. But everyone watching CNN saw the explosion live and in real time.
In 1987, it was the live coverage of the rescue of a toddler from an abandoned well in Midland, Texas that became the hallmark story that set CNN on its path to success. Jessica McClure - who became known as “Baby Jessica” - fell 22 feet inside an 8-inch well in her aunt’s backyard. Americans tuned in and watched the rescue attempts in real time. People would leave to go to work or do whatever they had to do, but they knew they could always tune into CNN for updates on Baby Jessica. The ordeal lasted 58 hours and over the course of that time there were failed attempts to rescue Baby Jessica and while the drama made this seem like a TV show that no one knew how it would end. Would the toddler be rescued from the well alive? Hope and prayers were a big part of the drama. CNN also created a sense of community by people knowing this was a shared event that they were all part of. Remarkably, Baby Jessica was rescued alive and you could hear virtual applause from across the country when Baby Jessica was seen swaddled as she was lifted from the well. By covering the rescue live, CNN turned this local news story into a national story and news vans from across America were lined up as the broadcast networks and local news stations began to cover the story. This was the beginning of Ted Turner’s vision gaining momentum. Baby Jessica is all grown up and has kids of her own.
In 1989, we watched the Tiananmen Square protest drama unfold live in China. Would the Chinese tank run over the protesting student that stood in defiance of the Chinese military? No one knew and that’s what made the drama compelling. It was live on CNN.
In 1991, CNN turned coverage of a war into an extended TV show with correspondents becoming the stars. When news executives at CNN asked Ted Turner for more money to adequately cover Operation Desert Storm, Turner gave them what they needed and the use of satellite phone technology made it possible for the correspondents to cover the war even when the power went out. This was an extraordinary moment in the history of media in America. Live coverage of a war. We witnessed bombs and missiles exploding in Baghdad and in Baghdad’s al-Rashid Hotel, Bernard Shaw, Peter Arnett, and John Holliman were on the air live with vivid real time coverage of the war as it happened. The scud missile was a dated weapon Saddam Hussein was using and the reporter who covered the use of the missile, Arthur Kent, became known as the “Scud Stud.” The fact that such a moniker was used as a nickname for a reporter covering a war was a further indication that the live war coverage was perceived as a TV drama.
In 1994, CNN’s coverage of the slow-speed chase with O.J. Simpson in the back of his Bronco on the freeway of Los Angeles was another big boost for CNN. Ted Turner’s vision of a 24-hour news channel became more relevant.
CNN created the public’s appetite for constant news coverage that was available to any viewer to catch up on the latest news at any time. CNN was also the home of breaking news. While the major networks were in regular programming, CNN was covering the breaking news live. Every story was accompanied by opening graphics out of commercial breaks that made the live coverage seem more like a TV show.
CNN also had an impact on politics and journalism. The concept of news changed. In 1985, CNN went international offering coverage and service in the UK and by 1989 CNN had expanded to Europe and Asia. CNN was consumed by the heads of countries all over the world.
Inspired by the impressive growth of CNN, Fox News and MSNBC hit the air in 1996 and the competition between the three cable news channels affected journalism in other ways.
Today, cable news is more entertainment that it is news coverage. Opinions about the top news stories differentiated the news channels from each other and that diluted the credibility of news. Too many Americans now view their choice for a cable news channel as “the news” when each network prides itself on the hosts, who are seen more as celebrities than newscasters and that’s a more accurate description of what they are.
It’s dangerous for the cable news channels to be mistaken for “the news” and that is one of the reasons there has been an incredible loss in trust of the media. The 24-hour news channels also led to more emphasis placed on the speed of getting stories on the air often with accuracy being a casualty.
But as we remember the media tycoon, Ted Turner, it’s important to remember his original vision of a 24-hour news channel. Sadly, the evolution of the 24-hour news channel has distracted America from that vision Ted Turner had - which was unique, bold, and revolutionary in 1980. Ted Turner realized what was needed and he delivered.
