ABSTRACT
A network that intends to provide television news coverage all the time obviously has to structure its organization differently from one that provides a series of news programs for an entertainment medium. This most fundamental distinction manifests itself in several key operational distinctions between CNN and ABC. ABC News is organized on a program-by-program basis. Correspondents and producers are responsible primarily to a particular broadcast, of which there are only a few. In keeping with ABC's more differentiated organizational structure, and owing to its focus on specific broadcasts, selling a story at ABC is a more competitive venture than at CNN. More stories for more news programs translates into more deadlines at CNN. Deadlines are a problem for all television newsworkers, but for CNN producers, correspondents, and executives alike they were by far the most frequently mentioned constraint to performing their jobs.
