Breaking the News: CNN and the Birth of Chaos Media

Rick Davis, former CNNer who was the longest-serving executive in cable news history, reflects on the dangers of polarization, the challenges of the slow news day, and why media mergers always seem to misfire. Rick joined the network at its launch in 1980 and spent more than four decades in a variety of roles. He was EVP of Editorial Standards and Practices when he retired in 2021.

Bill Burke, former Turner executive and co-author of Call Me Ted, reflects on Ted Turner’s original vision, CNN’s uncertain next chapter, and the unintended consequences of the 24-hour news revolution.

This month’s conversation features Miles O’Brien, a former CNN anchor and correspondent who has spent the past decade reporting on science, aviation, and technology as an independent journalist and filmmaker for PBS News Hour, NOVA, and Frontline.We spoke with Miles in January while he was aboard a scientific research vessel in Antarctica, just miles from the Thwaites Glacier—one of the most consequential and closely watched indicators of climate change on the planet. From that literal edge of the Earth, Miles joined us to reflect not only on what science is telling us but also on what journalism must do when evidence collides with politics, polarization, and a media system built for speed and clicks rather than getting the story right.

Our first conversation features Lisa Napoli, former CNN journalist and the author of Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News, the definitive account of CNN’s improbable rise and enduring influence.Lisa is a journalist and author whose career spans radio, television, print, and digital platforms. She is the author of Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News (Abrams, 2020), the definitive book on CNN’s creation and early years. Her other works include Radio Shangri-La, a memoir about her time helping to start Bhutan’s first youth-oriented radio station, and Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie, a group biography of the women of NPR. Napoli began her career at CNN’s New York bureau on the day the network launched, giving her a firsthand perspective on Ted Turner’s bold experiment.Lisa serves as a series advisor for the Breaking the News podcast series.