Today is the 39th Anniversary of Cable News Network, the first cable news channel, started by Ted Turner in 1980.
It is now hard to recall that before CNN, and later MSNBC in 1996, and the infamous Fox News Channel, also in 1996, the face of electronic journalism was only CBS, NBC, and ABC.
This author and blogger grew up as a devoted fan of CBS and Walter Cronkite and the other great journalists of that channel, with sometimes focusing to a lesser extent on NBC and ABC.
One also recalls how Richard Nixon complained about the “constant barrage” of TV news nationally 22 minutes out of the 30 minute nightly newscast, which was actually only 11 minutes out of 15 before 1963.
Now, we are overwhelmed by so much electronic news on cable channels and the internet, but at the end CNN still stands out as a quality news organization.
CNN has made mistakes and blunders, but it has also educated us mightily in the past 39 years, and has been strengthened by a tyrant named Donald Trump who claims that channel and MSNBC, along with the three major networks are “fake news”. The constant attacks as well on the NY Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, the three best print papers in America, have only made educated people realize how significant all these and other news sources as well, are in keeping us free and informed.
It is the role of journalism to speak the truth, expose scandal, and insure our freedom and democracy, and they are working hard to overcome the greatest threat to America since World War II, far greater by comparison to that presented by Richard Nixon a half century ago.
No one is trying to give Richard Nixon a pass as a major threat historically, but the present “clear and present danger” of Donald Trump is an alarm bell warning us of the danger of infiltration by a foreign power which has always wished us ill since 1917, and now reconstituted in a different manner but no less dangerous than the old Soviet Union.
So to undermine our foreign policy and our loyalty to our allies in NATO, and in East Asia is a danger to the national security of America and to the world community at large, and CNN, MSNBC and others and the print media are working full time to keep Americans alert and informed.
So Happy 39th Birthday, CNN, and many more!
This an excellent topic, Ronald!
Here is CNN’s Jake Tapper:
https://youtu.be/N1jZNepTx80
Here is CNN, with some regret:
https://youtu.be/rGgqiEAC8Ws
Here is CNN, on firing a contributor:
https://youtu.be/eLejq2Iuzro
Here is CNN, misrepresenting Bernie Sanders’s voters:
https://youtu.be/gVdPFqYQn7A
Here is CNN’s Erin Burnett:
https://youtu.be/bwUAJybVn0E
Here is CNN, with an amazing hiring:
https://youtu.be/qgw1HKC96JM
Here is CNN, on Venezuela:
https://youtu.be/YgmjnHHzZcY
Here is CNN, backpedaling:
https://youtu.be/7lC8tx9lN0E
D, I am sorry to say that Jimmy Dore is NOT, in my mind, a reliable commentator, and it is clear you are trying to argue that CNN is “Fake News”, and using that, strangely, to claim, somehow, that Trump is innocent of any Russian involvement, or any scandal or corruption.
You use some dated shows that have been contradicted by the Mueller report, and it is clear that Dore is, if anything, a comedian, not a reliable news source, and I reject his and the other two characters on her show as worthy of validity.
And I think Brian Stelter has had an excellent show on CNN on Sunday mornings.
CNN, with Tulsi Gabbard:
https://youtu.be/lZSGZINjvbs
This tenth video, the last I intend to post, is—as were those previously posted—one more example of what has become of CNN (but, of course, not just CNN):
https://youtu.be/PPMjgM3dJYg
D, I respect your right to your views, but I do not think so called “alternative media” are exactly credible.
And certainly, Fox News Channel is no better!
Ronald writes, “D, I respect your right to your views, but I do not think so called ‘alternative media’ are exactly credible.â€
It is a difference between linear and digital form. It is also is a difference between establishment, which is corporate-owned (and one should be aware of who is the owner and who are the advertisers) and independent.
The videos by Jimmy Dore cover numerous segments, in recent period, from CNN. Dore never claimed his program is news. CNN does.
I have no problem with a difference in opinion, Ronald. I think it is important, when commenting on whether one agrees or disagrees, to show why that is. The first posted video, of Jake Tapper, is a great example why I no longer generally trust CNN.
D, please indicate who you trust, remembering just because CNN may have some issues in reliability, does not mean that you, as the saying goes, “throw out the baby with the bath water”. LOL 🙂
First – Hard to believe the network has been on that long. My, how time flies!
Second – Agreed, Professor. D is using the same attack tactic as Trump.
What news do you trust, D? Do you trust PBS Newshour? They have good reporting.
D – Our allies warned us about Team Trump. That’s why I don’t believe it’s a hoax concocted by the Democrats.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/05/28/how-barrs-investigation-will-alienate-our-allies-and-harm-national-security/
The Washington Monthly will give constructive criticism to the Democrats from time to time. Here’s a recent example criticizing the debate format for this time around.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/06/10/the-presidential-primary-debate-forum-should-be-scrapped/
The writers we read at the Washington Monthly also do not shy away from criticizing the media, when necessary. Here’s a latest example of them criticizing Chuck Todd for playing bothsiderism and not calling out Republican lies.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/06/20/how-chuck-todd-distorts-reality/