Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

A news cycle is a round of coverage once measured in the number of hours between each issue of a newspaper (→  News Production and Technology ). The term originated in the United States, and the Oxford English Dictionary dates the earliest use to a 1922 Los Angeles Times article. Major metropolitan newspapers back then published multiple editions daily, but smaller local and most international newspapers followed a cycle of 24 hours, publishing at about the same time daily, either morning or evening (News; Newspaper). The Associated Press (AP) sent stories to its member organizations designated AM or PM, indicating whether the member belonged in, and could publish the content in, a morning or afternoon slot. AP sent corrections and updates over cable (first the wire, then computer) as news broke (→  News Agencies ). Broadcast news initially scheduled programs in daily time slots, although stations did interrupt regular programming for breaking news (→  Television News ; Radio News ). The transition to shorter cycles emerged slowly. With the introduction of The Today Show on the US ABC network in 1952, the broadcast news cycle added a morning to its existing afternoon arc (→  Newscast ; Radio Networks ; Television Networks ). The 24-hour news channel →  CNN launched in 1980 (→  Newscast, 24-Hour ), and in the UK Sky News followed in 1989. Al Jazeera (→  Arab Satellite TV ... log in or subscribe to read full text