[mks_dropcap style=”letter” size=”48″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]E[/mks_dropcap]very time a new media technology enters the market, it entirely disrupts the media landscape because anything new is not simply an addition but also an evolution, a metamorphosis of all the things around them. As we have previously discussed, when new technologies disrupt the media landscape, it also records the response of the people towards it. One such media company that has shown tremendous adaption over time is the Cable News Network (CNN).
CNN is an internationally renowned news – television channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. It was the first news channel to provide 24-hour news coverage and also the first to be exclusively reserved for news. I chose this corporation because of its extensive network, reaching up to 378 million households across more than 200 countries and territories. CNN Digital is the number one online news destination, routinely registering nearly 200 million unique visitors globally each month.Moreover, as the innovator of cable news and boasting such a broad outreach, any new technology CNN implements is bound to be noticed and emulated by not only smaller channels but also ordinary media users. The very way they perceive news can be influenced.
They stress on providing their viewers with fairness, accuracy and objectivity of the content, as fast as possible.
The Foundation of Innovation
The mission of CNN is to present hard-breaking, national, and international news, as the finest possible news product, as it unfolds. Furthermore, their vision is to broadcast all over the world not only in English but also other regional languages. They stress on providing their viewers with fairness, accuracy and objectivity of the content, as fast as possible. They want to serve their content with fairness. CNN fulfils all aforementioned objectives by providing the latest news 24/7 and by using the technology to report in real-time. In the digital era, the company makes optimum use of the internet to stream their news live so that their viewers can watch it, the moment it happens and also by ruling out any scope of bias or misjudgement. Something that really helps them fulfil this objective is the human resources such as journalists and news reporters who are available as staff at all times.
Another resource that CNN could financially be benefited from were the Oracle Corp. They helped CNN to launch CNN Custom News, that enabled the consumers to personalise their news back in 1997. Studies show that in addition to drawing on CNN’s news reporting resources and those of its broadcast affiliates, the service uses more than 100 newspapers, magazines, and other news sources. Oracle’s Web Application Server was used to enable delivery of content in real time.
News Media Meets Digitalisation
Since the launch of CNN Digital worldwide in 1995, it created an interactive experience by putting up a function on their website that lets consumers select news headlines to make into t-shirts, branded with the CNN logo. In each of these settings, the news corporation becomes the base for the creative product, and the time spent on the sites during the creation process allows brand registration to occur. Thus, CNN uses the digitalisation as a tool to advertise about its brand and increase its chances of becoming a popular source of news.
Another classic example of the CNN using technological advancement to their advantage is when they introduced a virtual set up for their “Election Night Coverage”. At the Time Warner Centre in New York, CNN introduced a virtual set into the real world set by creating a graphic model of the US Capitol, using virtual-set technology from a graphics firm – Vizrt and Israel-based sports enhancement specialist – SportVU.
Even though CNN’s content is heavily immersed in technology these days, they distinctly mention in their vision statement, they avoid technological manipulation of media. Which includes texts, images, videos, sounds and other created content. Thus, in order to thrive in the media landscape, it is quite evident that The CNN leaves no stone unturned to meet its objective via technological advancement and other resources. These strategies seemed to have worked effectively for them as they are one of the most successful and innovative news networks. Although, a critical examination might be required to research further into how much of the enthusiasm is fuelled by the cut throat competition of the other news channels, how much is the influence on technological inventions in the media landscape and if they fundamentally compromised on their content for other interests.
Cover: Matthew Guay/Unsplah / Final Editor: Erica Boyce
