24-hour news cycle

History

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Cable and Satellite Television News

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With the arrival of both cable and satellite television, channels dedicated to the news spawned a shorten information cycle with the events being only reported within a span of 24 hours. According to CNN Media Corespondent David Folkenflik in an answer to a question if there was a certain event that helped established the Network and its longevity, CNN gained much notability and attention for their media coverage of the conflict of the Gulf War, something he witnessed on television whilst still attending high school. Mentioning that CNN journalists such as Peter Arnett and Bernard Shaw were able to be in Baghdad interviewing Iraqi officials at a time that had been stated to be dangerous. Folkenfilk goes on to state in the interview that in 1996, the year both MSNBC and FOX News launched, the two new networks were considered worthy competitors for CNN, FOX News even wrestling top ratings from them by late 2001 with coverage of the War in Afghanistan [1]

By 2001, several Late-night talk and comedy shows, such as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart also incorporated the short life span of events into their programming, hosts often commenting on the events of day followed by a punchline. Political scholar Geoffery Baym noted that the Daily Show can be better understood beyond its comical moniker of 'fake news', and instead be a form of alternative journalism, stated that such a show can be both news and comedy. Through its use of satire to interrogate power, parody to critique contemporary news, and dialogue to enact a model of deliberative democracy.[2] Baym's point on the Daily Show being both a form of comedy and news is also further enforced by two other political scholars, Michael Xenos and Amy Becker, in article of their own on the Daily Show. Their article makes use and mention of studies since, that illustrate in addition to entertaining viewers, political comedy shows do appear to play a role in helping some individuals be informed about the political world.[3]

Emergence of World Wide Web News Presence

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In 2008, the US Federal election featured a very prominent campaign presence on social media site, a decade ago social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat and Pintrest didn't even exist. Now however, campaigns hire teams of experts to manage their political presence on the web. Both of Barrack Obama's presidential campaigns featured a well executed social media presence. "The 24-hour news cycle has become a 140-character one," notes Adam Sharp, Twitter's senior manager for government, news and social innovation.[4]

The Internet is frequently used by most cable and satellite news networks, such as CNN and CBS. CBS which offers a 24-hour online on-demand network and offers a blog, called 'The Public Eye', which enables visitors to the site to post public comments. CNN'S Inside Politics runs "Inside the Blog", the first regular TV coverage of reporting and opinions about web blogs. Most major newspapers and magazines sites have also established dedicated blogs for their reporters and corespondents to post their reflections and views on issues, as well for the visitors of the site to interact with the editorial staff.[5]

Along with the shift towards blogs, cable and news satellite networks, along with other a few other outlets have a prominent presence on Youtube. The video sharing and streaming site serving as both a necessarily evil and as an opportunity for such producers.[6] ABC News features a channel of its own, similar to its traditional televised news, though viewers have complained on the briefness and quality of the uploaded content, often feeling like they are missing something.[7] The New York Times also has a Youtube presence to supplement their text coverage, the frequency of quality news content being a criticism among some viewers.[7] Al Jazeera English, has been praised for the frequency of the channels videos, uploading up to 30 videos daily, along with focus more so on world news instead of local reporting. In addition to the volume of videos uploaded daily, the channel also offers a live stream of their current coverage as well.[7] The Young Turks, also offer a channel that stylizes itself as an online news show, though often will provide coverage on stories traditional media wouldn't cover. As well as this, The Young Turks have consistently held more subscribers than the traditional outlets.[7] SourceFed, which was created by Youtuber Philip DeFranco, is a Youtube News Channel deliberately geared towards a younger audience, focusing on infamous and interesting news stories, instead of traditionally reported news. The Channel's daily uploads are short, less than 10 minute videos, presented often in a casual and comedic manner, while the channel does also feature longer weekly shows ranging around the 30 minute mark. [7]

Critical assessment

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Further Criticisms and the Cons of the Cycle

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A few further critics on the 24-hour cycle being the use of skeleton crews by news networks during the off-hours of after 8 p.m. A single news editor will be required to work with stringers, contractors and freelancers as needed. The criticism being that if clients have an already established rapporteur with a beat reporter or editor who is well acquainted with them already, none of the benefits of that established relationship can't be communicated to the single editor.

The occasional absence of news often causes outlets to repeat or run slightly adjusted old stories in order to retain viewership, though this often leads to audience apathy. Conversely, constant and rapid changes in the news can lead to important details or points being filtered out by the 24 hour cycle, the worry being that all the 'bite size' news bits are detracting from more crucial issues. [8]

In regards to the expansion and continued growth of the internet, as it can help perpetuate the 24 hour cycle, journalist Tom Brokaw equated it to being an event similar to the Big Bang. Saying "I think we are in the middle of another Big Bang... We've created this universe in which all these planets are suddenly out there colliding with each other. We are trying to determine which ones will support life, which ones will drift too close to the sun and burn up, which ones will meld together. And the effect of it all is bewildering, both to those of us in this end of the spectrum and those who are on the receiving end. It's a big dilemma and we haven't given enough thought to the consequences[9]

References

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  1. ^ Hansen, Liane (May 29, 2005). "The Power of the 24-hour News cycle". Www.Npr.org. NPR. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  2. ^ Baym, Geoffrey (August 21, 2006). "The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism". Political Communication. doi:10.1080/10584600591006492. {{cite journal}}: line feed character in |title= at position 47 (help)
  3. ^ Becker, Xenos, Amy, Michael (July 2009). "Moments of Zen: Effects of The Daily Show on Information Seeking and Political Learning". Political Communication. doi:10.1080/10584600903053569. {{cite journal}}: line feed character in |title= at position 45 (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Dunham, Richard (August 28, 2012). "24-hour news cycle 'has become a 140-character one'". Chron.com. Chron.com. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  5. ^ Atkin, Lin, Carolyn, David (2007). Communication Technology and Social Change: Theory and Implications. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, inc. Publishers. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-7391-9125-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Sherk, Adam (August 31, 2012). "The Most Popular News Sites on YouTube". Adamsherk.com. Adamsherk.com. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Elizabeth (August 14, 2013). "6 Great YouTube Channels for the Latest News". techlious.com. Techlicous.com. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  8. ^ Agudelo, Wendy (July 29, 2015). "Pros and Cons of the 24-Hour News Cycle". Axiapr.com. Axiapr. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  9. ^ Feldman,Rosenberg, Charles, Howard (2008). No Time To Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. New York: A&C Black. p. 12. ISBN 0826429319.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)