In a message to CNN’s thousands of staffers today, CNN News Group president Jim Walton recognized 25 years of stories:
“I feel tremendous pride in our having reached this milestone–not the number, but what the number represents in the arc of our story,” he wrote. “The thousands of news events we have covered so far have prepared us for the thousands ahead. The achievements and sacrifice of colleagues around the world have given us credibility and a global platform. And our investment in the CNN brand has built a foundation for next-generation growth in areas we are just beginning to explore.”
More: “We will mark this anniversary with a mix of ceremony and celebration, and with a commitment to our profession, all of which I hope you will enjoy and find meaningful. As exciting and satisfying as it has been for me personally to be part of CNN for most of the past quarter-century, it’s our next era that I’m thinking about. I know that whatever the future brings, CNN journalists will cover it, providing timely, authoritative news and information from the world to the world.”
Read his full note after the jump…
June 1, 2005
To: Staff
From: Jim Walton
Some people mark the passage of time in increments–a year, five years, 20 years, 50 years–whose arrival signals something big.
We are not those people.
Journalists and, by extension, news organizations live life in minutes-moments, even. Days and events rush and tumble into each other. We get there, ask questions, tell our stories, get somewhere else, ask more questions. We learn, fall short, succeed. Over time, we find ourselves standing for something: our work, the product and our profession. And one day we’re surprised to realize that we’ve been at it for 25 years.
I feel tremendous pride in our having reached this milestone–not the number, but what the number represents in the arc of our story. The thousands of news events we have covered so far have prepared us for the thousands ahead. The achievements and sacrifice of colleagues around the world have given us credibility and a global platform. And our investment in the CNN brand has built a foundation for next-generation growth in areas we are just beginning to explore.
We will mark this anniversary with a mix of ceremony and celebration, and with a commitment to our profession, all of which I hope you will enjoy and find meaningful. As exciting and satisfying as it has been for me personally to be part of CNN for most of the past quarter-century, it’s our next era that I’m thinking about. I know that whatever the future brings, CNN journalists will cover it, providing timely, authoritative news and information from the world to the world.
To help ensure that there are more journalists who will distinguish themselves, I am pleased to tell you that we are committing $1 million to fund scholarships for journalism students through the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association.
Here’s to CNN–yesterday, today and tomorrow–and to each of you.