CNN Turns 35

Today, June 1st 2015, marks exactly 35 years since the Cable News Network took to the air in 1980.

Wolf Blitzer, anchor of "Wolf" which airs daily at 7pm CAT

What started out as a vision of media tycoon, Ted Turner, has paved the way for many more news networks all around the world today.

Even CNN itself has grown to consist of a family of international channels:

• There is CNNUS: The CNN seen in the United States which is currently the third most watched news channel stateside behind MSNBC and Fox News
• There is HLN: WHat started as CNN2 and was meant to be a simple news channel that gave you the headlines whenever you tuned in has evolved into a news channel for the social media generation.
• There is CNN International (The version seen in South Africa) which is the most watched 24 hour news channel in the world.
• There is the Spanish CNN Espaniol.
• There is CNN News source, which is a news wire for local stations in the US.
• Then there are many local versions of the most trusted name in news all around the world: CNN Türk, CNN Chile, CNN-IBN (an Indian channel), CNN Indonesia and the recently launched CNN Phillipines.

Erin Burnett, anchor of Erin Burnett Outfront that airs weekends on CNN

What makes CNN different from other news channels is the shear amount of resources they invest into covering major breaking news stories and their philosophy of staying with a story until the end. Both of these factors have been a source of ridicule as well. When covering the US midterm elections last year the channel was ridiculed for 'over covering' the event by having more than 20 live reporters standing by to break election results as they came in, though many of these reporters were, in fact, never used. Their philosophy of staying with a news story until the end came under fire with the disappearance of flight MH370 when CNN seemed to cover the story non stop for 24 hours at a time, even when there was absolutely no news to report.

Jake Tapper, CNN's Chief Washington Correspondent and the new anchor of State of the Union, which airs on Sunday afternoons

But what is key to the success of CNN is probably the networks ability to evolve. Though CNN on television in the US is struggling in the ratings race, CNN's online properties: CNNMoney, CNNPolitics and cnn.com are all among the most popular websites in their respective categories as a result of a great deal of investment in them from an early stage already.

CNN's "Golden Boy," Anderson Cooper, who gets to fly around the world to cover major breaking news and also anchors Anderson Cooper 360, which airs at 2am Tuesday through Saturday mornings

Below is "Breaking News: 35 Years of CNN," a CNN Special Report discussing all the major news stories CNN has covered over the years:




Below is the internal memo on the celebration of 35 years of CNN by current the current president of CNN Worldwide, Jeff Zucker:

June 1, 2015 Thirty five years ago today, Ted Turner and CNN made history. It was June 1, 1980.

Ted was a maverick, filled with big dreams and unlimited ambition. Before anyone else, he realized there was a market, and a need, for a television network devoted to news and information, 24 hours a day. It was brilliant and radical.

Thirty-five years later, we are still making history, every day. In a world that changes so fast you can now get the news on your wrist, one thing remains constant: CNN is always there.

I’ve been fortunate to read some of your memories of your time at CNN. Whether you’ve been here since the beginning, or you joined more recently, a couple things struck me about the stories I read. CNN is a family. We have our ups and our downs, we have good days and bad. We celebrate our collective successes, and mourn our common losses. We have our share of quirky uncles and embarrassing moments. We work tremendously hard because we know how important it is that we get it right, every time.

The world relies on CNN, so it matters that CNN is good. We take our work seriously, because we know we have a responsibility to maintain the standards that Ted set 35 years ago. He founded CNN to act upon our convictions, to be a positive force in a world where cynics abound, and to provide information to people where it isn’t readily available. We live up to those ambitious goals every day – whether we are covering a story, moderating a debate, pushing an interview subject just a bit harder, developing a new way to get our reporting to the people who want it, or serving as the world’s most trusted news brand.

Most of what has made CNN great for 35 years was happening long before I got here. My hope is, with the help of each of you, the next 35 years are even greater. Thank you for all you do.
Jeff

You can follow the celebrations on Twitter using the hashtag #CNN35