Wednesday, June 3, 2009

history lesson.

tomorrow marks the 20th year anniversary of the tiananmen square massacre. and although i was too young to remember the significance of the event at the time, this was an incredible event in world history as thousands of chinese demonstrators lost their lives protesting for reform within the communist chinese government.

what i found today to be even more interesting was that these events even received international attention. it was a matter of brilliant timing on the part of the demonstrators as most international media had arrived in the country anticipating the advent of soviet leader, mikhail gorbachev. however, gorbachev was not even able to enter into tiananmen square as planned due to the massive gathering of protesters allowing them the full attention of the media.

this was also the event that put cnn on the map. at the time cnn was only 9 years old its 24 hour news credibility was challenged by more long-standing networks. but here's the gotcha: no other network at the time had 24 hour news coverage so cnn was the only one able to catch the events as they were unfolding nonstop therefore establishing themselves as a legitimate source for american and world news.
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"honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress."
-mahatma gandhi

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