ABSTRACT
Ted Turner’s Cable News Network was the first in 1980, earning respect for its outstanding coverage of the massacre in Tiananmen Square and the Gulf War, when it was the only news network to cover the start of Operation Desert Storm. CBS stations extended that cycle to an hour to try to hold an audience for longer. National news could be taken on the hour, followed by local news, with traffic, sport, weather reports and other items programmed into the cycle, moving away from the extended bulletin feel to become a news programme. In the UK, the brief news summary is known as a bulletin. In the USA, bulletin may refer to a one-item snap of breaking news, while in UK parlance that would be known as a newsflash. News programmes aim to provide a broader view of the day’s news, summarising the best stories of the day instead of the hour.
