CNN: Marketing news as a product
MEDIA
THE NETWORK IS FACING NEW CHALLENGES AS IT COMPLETES 30 YEARS, WRITES ASHOK ORGA
Smaller Default Larger
It was in June 1980 that the world saw the birth of Cable News Network ( CNN ) – the world’s
first 24 hour news channel, thereby heralding the new era of immediacy and linking the world
to major events, no matter where they occurred. The tagline ‘It is always primetime
somewhere’ best summed up the ambitions of the founder of this new cable network Ted
Turner. The word immediacy may sound archaic and blasé in our WWW and Twitterized
world but it needed great vision and courage in Ted Turner to think of launching a 24 – hour
news channel at that time. The first broadcast became an event by itself with a ‘married pair
of news anchors hosting the show’. This perhaps was the first indication of the rules that the
Network would change to meet its objectives and capture the world -wide audiences. In fact,
CNN changed the way TV journalism worked – get the news now as it happened and not
wait for the evening broadcast. For the first time the morning newspapers realized that they
have had to compete with CNN for attention of its readers. Initially, the newspapers ignored
the network on the assumption that it was so unpolished and staffed with so many low-paid
youngsters, and dubbed it as ‘Chicken Noodle Network’ (short for CNN). Perhaps, the
newspaper veterans did not realize then that for the new Network, News is a product to be
packaged and marketed – initially to Americans and later to worldwide audiences. It,
therefore, made perfect sense that the Network started its operations from a Shopping Mall
complex in downtown Atlanta.
It began its operation in June 1980 with a minimal staff of 25. However, at the time of the
launch ceremony, the flag of the United Nations was raised alongside those of the United
States and the state of Georgia, hinting at Turner’s global ambitions. Quoted in a book called
‘CNN- Making News in the Global Market’, by Don Flournoy and Robert Stewart, Turner says
that his worldwide yacht racing activities had given him a global perspective: “The thing that
made me think internationally was… sail-boat racing. It made me realize how parochial most
Americans are. We think like the Romans did at the time of Roman empire that the world
somehow circles around us, and that we are the centre of the universe”.
Ted Turner was born in 1938 and took over the family business of Billboard after his father
died when he was 24 . A skilled yachtsman, he won the America’s Cup in 1997 with his
vessel appropriately named Courageous. Ted Turner was driven by the notion that existing
broadcasts networks did not serve viewers well enough, that they had similar narrow
agendas and did not cover the world as it should be covered. His vision was to have CNN
become a truly international news channel, spanning the globe. His plan, in any case, was a
radical one for the period. He had realized that by using satellites for delivery, he could reach
consumers without the helping hand of local broadcasters. The challenge lied in the fact that
in 1980 only about 20 per cent of US televisions households could receive cable television,
and Turner’s News Channel reached only 1.7 million of those households – far fewer than
were needed to make a profit. But Ted Turner persisted with his venture convinced that the
network will turn profitable and in 1981 launched a second channel, CNN Headline News –
which provided quick news updates, as opposed to CNN’s broader analysis. By the mid-
1980s things were changing. Both CNN and CNN Headlines News were uploaded onto an
international satellite, creating CNN International in 1985. Most credit the network's coverage
of the CHALLENGER disaster in 1986 as the moment that CNN came of age, when it was
the only TV channel broadcasting the catastrophic launch of the space shuttle. However, it
was the Tiananman square protest with students trying to stop the march of tanks that
provided the channel an opportunity to report an international event.
CNN further enhanced its global reputation in the 1991 Gulf War when it was the only news
outlet to broadcast directly from Baghdad during the initial air strikes. The channel dominated
perhaps the biggest news story since Watergate of interest to the US audiences. Soon
afterward, academics and Pentagon officials began talking about the 'CNN effect.' First
studied by Professor Steve Livingston of the George Washington University, the CNN effect
described how the broadcast of events from around the world affected US foreign policy
formulation.
Similarly, CNN's coverage of the anarchy and famine in Somalia in 1992, for instance, was a
major factor in the decision by the first President George Bush ( Sr.) to send troops there on
an ill-fated humanitarian mission. A year later, CNN's footage of the body of a US soldier
being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu prompted then- President Bill Clinton to
withdraw US forces. In that sense its significance 30 years later goes far beyond the
television or media worlds. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Channel enjoyed access
to over 250 million households worldwide and more than 30 CNN branded products covering
TV, Internet, Radio and mobile services. And yet thirty years later, CNN has struggled to
maintain its position as the go-to source for news and has been hard hit by competition from
other cable news networks that sprang up in its wake. Channels like Fox News and MSNBC
have taken a partisan approach to coverage in the US, while the competition for ratings has
spawned a sensationalized news culture that values the controversy and cheaply produced
talk shows.
Similarly, on the global scene the British Broadcasting Corporation has emerged world's
premier news network. It is available to viewers in more than 200 countries, has 36 bureaus
around the world, more than 900 affiliated local stations and boasts a team of 4,000 news
professionals. Also, the CNN coverage post the attack on World Trade Towers in
Afghanistan and Iraq betrayed lack of journalistic integrity, accuracy and impartiality. The
concept of ‘Embedded’ journalism became a camouflage for panning to US interests and
concerns. Truth became a casualty. As did trust. As one commentator has said: “Embedded
reporting is a good idea, but it shouldn't be the only food item on the menu. Getting coverage
only from embedded reporters is like looking only into a microscope. What we need is
something of the broader picture, and the chance to know other aspects of the whole
enterprise.”
It delivered to the US public sensational, pro-war news reports. During the war, most
journalists were "embedded" with US military units, giving them a very one-sided picture of
the conflict and ruling out even-handed reporting. Other journalists who decided to go "free-
lance" came under attack by the US military and two popular Arab television offices were
directly bombed by the US air force. The media largely toed the Bush administration line in
covering the war and, by doing so, failed to aggressively question the motives behind the
invasion. The press muzzled itself and also allowed to be muzzled. The CNN coverage of
Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts lend credence to what Ted Turner is reported to have
remarked before founding the Network: “I hate news.
News is evil. It makes people feel bad”. While it fed the egos back home, the audiences
outside of the US showed their dislike of CNN by switching to other satellite channels
including the BBC and the first Middle East owned satellite news channel Al Jazeera.
Ironically, while the first Gulf War gave CNN a huge leg up, it was the second Gulf War that
hastened its downfall from the position it occupied in 1980s and also in 1990s. Gulf War II
was barely twenty-four hours old when CNN lost its first major battle. “You are worse than
the American administration,” an Iraqi censor fumed to CNN correspondent and continued
“get out of Iraq! Get out immediately!” Like the older media outlets it first outpaced, CNN has
been further challenged by the ubiquity of news on the internet and the real-time reporting on
sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter - illustrated during big recent events such as
the demonstrations in Iran and the earthquake in Haiti.
The founder in Ted Turner has also moved on relinquishing the charge at CNN ( or was he
made to step-down in 2003 after he sold his entire television empire to AOL – Time Warner
in 1996?), and the Network is facing tough competition and new challenges. Realizing that it
was losing audiences to competitors, CNN tried hard to ‘de-nationalize’ its brand identity by
recruiting more and more local staff but other satellite news channels were already eroding
its viewership base. The executives have been at pains to explain that ‘CNN is one church
with different sermons’ or ‘ CNN is not an Atlanta channel that strives to be international, but
an international channel that happens to be based in Atlanta ’. But the audiences across the
world do not seem to be listening. It is said that number one component of successful
branding is consistency. We should grant it to the channel that the ‘CNN logo has stood the
test of time’. But we need to remember that viewers tune in to a channel for content, not for
Logo.
CNN: Ti p th tin t c nh m t s n ph m ế ị ứ ư ộ ả ẩ
MEDIA
M ng l i đang đ i m t v i nh ng thách th c m i khi hoàn thành 30 năm, vi t Orga Ashok ạ ướ ố ặ ớ ữ ứ ớ ế
Smaller Default Larger
Đó là vào tháng Sáu năm 1980, th gi i ch ng ki nế ớ ứ ế
s ra đ i c a Cable News Network (CNN) - đ u tiênự ờ ủ ầ
trên th gi i kênh tin t c 24 gi , do đó báo hi uế ớ ứ ờ ệ
th i đ i c a các c p bách và liên k t th gi i v iờ ạ ủ ấ ế ế ớ ớ
các s ki n l n, không có v n đ mà h đã x y ra. ự ệ ớ ấ ề ọ ả
Các kh u hi u "Nó luôn luôn là m t n i nào đó giẩ ệ ộ ơ ờ
cao đi m 'nh t tóm t t tham v ng c a các sáng l pể ấ ắ ọ ủ ậ
viên c a m ng cáp này m i Ted Turner. ủ ạ ớ Các t cóừ
th t c thì âm thanh c x a và chaể ứ ổ ư n trong cá c aủ
chúng tôi và trên th gi i nh ng nó c n thi tế ớ ư ầ ế
Twitterized t m nhìn tuy t v i và s can đ m trongầ ệ ờ ự ả
Ted Turner đ nghĩ v tung ra m t 24 - kênh tin t cể ề ộ ứ
ti ng đ ng h vào lúc đó. ế ồ ồ Vi c phát sóng đ u tiênệ ầ
đã tr thành m t s ki n c a chính nó v i "đôi vở ộ ự ệ ủ ớ ợ
ch ng l y tin l u tr c a ch ng trình 'm t. ồ ấ ư ữ ủ ươ ộ Đi uề
này có l là d u hi u đ u tiên trong các quy đ nhẽ ấ ệ ầ ị
r ng các m ng s thay đ i đ đáp ng m c tiêuằ ạ ẽ ổ ể ứ ụ
c a mình và n m b t đ c khán gi trên toàn thủ ắ ắ ượ ả ế
gi i. ớ Trong th c t , CNN thay đ i cách làm vi cự ế ổ ệ
báo chí truy n hình - có đ c nh ng tin t c hi nề ượ ữ ứ ệ
nay vì nó đã x y ra và không ch đ i cho phát sóngả ờ ợ
bu i t i. ổ ố L n đ u tiên các t báo bu i sáng nh n raầ ầ ờ ổ ậ
r ng h đã ph i c nh tranh v i CNN cho s chú ýằ ọ ả ạ ớ ự
c a đ c gi . ủ ộ ả Ban đ u, các t báo b b qua cácầ ờ ị ỏ
m ng trên gi đ nh r ng nó là nh v y không bóngạ ả ị ằ ư ậ
và nhân viên v i r t nhi u c u th tr đ c trớ ấ ề ầ ủ ẻ ượ ả
l ng th p, và g i nó là "Gà Mì Network" (vi t t tươ ấ ọ ế ắ
c a CNN). ủ Có l , các c u chi n binh báo đã khôngẽ ự ế
nh n ra đó là cho m ng m i, t c là m t s n ph mậ ạ ớ ứ ộ ả ẩ
đ c đóng gói và ti p th - ban đ u cho ng i Mượ ế ị ầ ườ ỹ
và sau đó đ khán gi trên toàn th gi i. ể ả ế ớ Nó, do đó,
có ý nghĩa hoàn h o mà các m ng b t đ u ho tả ạ ắ ầ ạ
đ ng c a nó t m t ph c h p Trung tâm mua s mộ ủ ừ ộ ứ ợ ắ
trung tâm thành ph Atlanta. ở ố
Nó b t đ u ho t đ ng vào tháng Sáu năm 1980 v iắ ầ ạ ộ ớ
m t đ i ngũ nhân viên t i thi u là 25. ộ ộ ố ể Tuy nhiên,
t i th i đi m l ra m t, c c a Liên Hi p Qu c đãạ ờ ể ễ ắ ờ ủ ệ ố
đ c nâng lên cùng v i nh ng ng i c a Hoa Kỳượ ớ ữ ườ ủ
và ti u bang Georgia, gián ti p vào tham v ng toànể ế ọ
c u c a Turner. ầ ủ Trích d n trong cu n sách có tên làẫ ố
'CNN-làm báo trong th tr ng toàn c u ", b i Donị ườ ầ ở
Flournoy và Robert Stewart, Turner cho bi t cácế
ho t đ ng đua xe c a mình trên toàn th gi i duạ ộ ủ ế ớ
thuy n đã đ a cho ông m t vi n c nh toàn c u:"ề ư ộ ễ ả ầ
Đi u đó làm cho tôi nghĩ r ng qu c t đã đ c ...ề ằ ố ế ượ
bu m đua thuy n. ồ ề Nó làm cho tôi nh n ra ng iậ ườ
M thuôc vêỹ & ' thi xa nh t. & ấ Chúng tôi suy nghĩ như
ng i La Mã đã làm trong th i gian c a đ ch Laườ ờ ủ ế ế
Mã r ng th gi i b ng cách nào đó vòng tròn xungằ ế ớ ằ
quanh chúng ta, và r ng chúng tôi là trung tâm c aằ ủ
vũ tr ". ụ
Ted Turner đ c sinh ra vào năm 1938 và đã quaượ
các công ty gia đình c a b ng x p h ng Billboardủ ả ế ạ
sau khi cha ông qua đ i khi ông 24. ờ M t ngộ ươ'i đi
du thuyê'n có tay ngh , ông đã giành đ c Cup c aề ượ ủ
M vào năm 1997 v i các tàu c a mình m t cáchỹ ớ ủ ộ
thích h p có tên là Dũng c m Ted Turner là do quanợ ả
ni m cho r ng phát hi n m ng không ph c vệ ằ ệ ạ ụ ụ
ng i xem cũng đ . R ng h đã có ch ng trìnhườ ủ ằ ọ ươ
ngh s t ng t h p và không bao g m các thị ự ươ ự ẹ ồ ế
gi i nh nó c n đ c bù đ p. ớ ư ầ ượ ắ T m nhìn c a ông làầ ủ
có CNN tr thành m t kênh tin t c th c s qu c t ,ở ộ ứ ự ự ố ế
tr i r ng trên th gi i. ả ộ ế ớ k ho ch c a ông, trongế ạ ủ
tr ng h p nào, là m t m t giai đo n c c đoan. ườ ợ ộ ộ ạ ự
Ông đã nh n ra r ng b ng cách s d ng v tinh đậ ằ ằ ử ụ ệ ể
phân ph i, ông có th ti p c n ng i tiêu dùng màố ể ế ậ ườ
không có bàn tay giúp đ c a các đài truy n hình đ aỡ ủ ề ị
ph ng. ươ Thách th c n m trong th c t là vào nămứ ằ ự ế
1980 ch có kho ng 20 ph n trăm h gia đình Mỉ ả ầ ộ ỹ
truy n hình có th nh n đ c truy n hình cáp, vàề ể ậ ượ ề
Turner's News Channel đ t ch 1,7 tri u nh ng h -ạ ỉ ệ ữ ộ
đ n nay ít h n là c n thi t đ t o ra l i nhu n. ế ơ ầ ế ể ạ ợ ậ
Nh ng Ted Turner v n kiên trì v i liên doanh c aư ẫ ớ ủ
ông tin r ng m ng s chuy n l i nhu n và nămằ ạ ẽ ể ợ ậ
