hold for release

When the first twenty-four hour cable news network debuted in 1980, ushering in a new era for the way we thought about and expected from the media and I think to a large degree conditioned us to use and be exploited by the internet, the founding mogul pledged that the US National Anthem (the traditional sign-off music for when television stations had an end to their broadcasting day) would only be played once for the network’s inaugeration and be on the air until the end of time. There was a contingency video prepared in the event the end of the world which would consequently stop the intrepid reporting—I wonder what they imagined back then as opposed to now and what catastrophes have changed and what have remained the same—that was rediscovered by an intern in 2009 and might be worth a look at what was supposed to never be seen—not out of morbid curiosity but a glimpse at how one individual prepared for such an occasion with dignity.