As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, CNN is focusing on the role technology has played in newsgathering, including coverage of the first and second wars with Iraq. (Image courtesy CNN.)
CNN turns 25 next month, building a quarter century of newsgathering prowess with the help of talented journalists, technicians and newsgathering technology throughout the world.
Electronic newsgathering – at home and abroad - has played a critical role in helping the network to pioneer serious news coverage for national and international audiences with delivery via cable television.
Perhaps the network’s brightest shining moment in electronic newsgathering was the beginning of hostilities during the first war with Iraq in 1991. The world watched live on CNN as the United States pummeled Baghdad with a nighttime aerial assault that saw a coordinated attack using ship-fired cruise missiles, the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, and a host of other aircraft.
To help celebrate the network’s 25th anniversary, CNN has published an extensive, online press kit, which includes a first-person account from senior international correspondent Nic Robertson on how a smuggled satellite telephone was used to transmit live reports of the assault to the network without having to rely on a Baghdad TV station or PTT for backhaul.
To read the account, visit http://www.cnn.com/services/opk/cnn25/from_cnns.htm#nic.
