The Worm That Swallowed CNN

CNN spent an hour in “breaking news” mode when a worm infected its computers in New York and Atlanta. (Leading to the real question: Why does CNN still have computers running Windows 2000?)

“We didn’t really miss a beat,” a CNN spokesperson said this evening. Because CNN’s facilities are spread out, the network was able to continue broadcasting from D.C. until N.Y. came back online.

Anderson Cooper 360 started a few minutes late. Here’s what Cooper told viewers: “Just about two hours ago, most of our computers here, and some systems across the country running Windows 2000 suddenly shut down.” There were only a few minor glitches during the show.

Showbiz Tonight broadcasted on schedule from the Time Warner Center, too. “Fasten your seatbelt, it could be a wild ride,” co-host A.J. Hammer said.

> Did CNN go overboard? After all, a Microsoft spokesperson said “we haven’t seen any huge uptick or impact today…a fairly small number of customers being impacted.”

> A tipster says: “This virus story was in the news all day today (and yesterday!) It’s now ‘breaking news’ on CNN only because it’s now effecting CNN. What an ego-driven news coverage decision…I wonder who made the call to ‘flood the zone’ on this story?”