Transnational news broadcasters

Transnational television news broadcasters – which distribute general news content to international audiences across national borders via online and satellite transmission – occupy a central position in the global information flow. But their politicization threatens to divide as much as unite. This chapter traces the historical development of these organizations from the launch of CNN in 1980, which marked the beginning of routine live, on-the-ground reporting from around the world to the emergence of the 24/7 live news coverage in the early 2000s. We examine contemporary issues shaping the landscape of transnational television broadcasting, including the merger of BBC News 24 and BBC World News into the single channel BBC News, the evolving identity of Euronews as a pan-European news service and the rise of ideological international broadcasting coupled with public diplomacy, as undertaken by networks such as CGTN and RT. In addition, this chapter examines the transnational alternative broadcasters TeleSur and Al Jazeera, which position themselves as the voices of the Global South and challenge traditional media paradigms by amplifying alternative perspectives. This chapter concludes with suggestions for future research on transnational news broadcasting.