News Network.

The Cable News Network (CNN) was the first television network to devote its entire programming schedule to reporting the news — in the process the network changed the definition of news itself. Previously, the nightly news broadcasts offered by the three major networks were summaries of the day's events, condensed into a half-hour format that allowed little room for detailed coverage or analysis. Live reporting of events that occurred outside the "news hour" of 6:00— 7:00 P.M. was unusual. But CNN's round-the-clock dedication to current events gave the network the ability to cover events as they occurred and the time to follow those events, however long they took to develop.

Turner's Vision.

CNN was the brainchild of Ted Turner, the unconventional entrepreneur who in 1981, when the news network debuted, was known primarily as the owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Turner had also owned...