CNN's "Doomsday" Broadcast Clip Finally Revealed

[MovieBob]

CNN's "Doomsday" Broadcast Clip Finally Revealed

One of television's greatest urban legends turns out to be real

Ted Turner. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/cnn]

CNN, of course, turned out to be a world-changing success. But that doesn't mean its DNA is free from Turner's infamously oddball thought-processes. Case is point: It was rumored for decades that Turner had actually ordered that CNN create and maintain at the ready a special one-time-use video-package to be run in the event of The End of The World - an official sign-off for The Apocalypse. Per Turner's specifications, the video would feature a military band performing Nearer My God to Thee, supposedly inspired by (similarly-legendary) accounts of the song being played during the sinking of The Titanic. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVnG5qYQcMI]

For years, the so-called "Doomsday Reel" was a broadcast industry legend unseen by the public (Badass Digest helpfully reminds us that it was in a report [http://badassdigest.com/2015/01/05/the-gremlins-2-scene-inspired-by-cnns-doomsday-video/] by Jalopnik's Michael Ballaban; which embeds a screen-capture of the actual video along with a brief history of it's existence.

The original video is still on-file at CNN, reportedly under instructions to be held for release until The End has been confirmed. Exactly who is expected to be onhand at CNN in order to confirm or execute such a command in such circumstances is not immediately clear.


Source: Jalopnik [http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-video-cnn-will-play-when-the-world-ends-1677511538]


[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/movies-and-tv/]

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[BrotherRool]

I thought CNN was the left wing Fox? It's always the one the right-wing people point to when someones said something incredibly stupid. Even John Oliver was complaining about how poor it's journalism is.

 

[Fappy]

Who the fuck will be watching CNN when the world is ending?!

 

[Roxas1359]

I thought CNN was the left wing Fox? It's always the one the right-wing people point to when someones said something incredibly stupid. Even John Oliver was complaining about how poor it's journalism is.

No, you're thinking of MSNBC. CNN is the "cool and hip" news station that tries to stay relevant by reporting on things like pop culture, only to make them seem even more like those people who wear teen clothing to try to make themselves look younger.

OT: You know, I wouldn't put it past Ted Turner to ask for a broadcast like that to be made. Then again, whenever I think of Ted Turner I can't help but think of this:

Who the fuck will be watching CNN when the world is ending?!

They gotta find out who the newest (and last) celebrity babies are of course. Or what the Kardashians are up to.

 

[Chefsbrian]

Honestly, if you all had billions of dollars and businesses like this, you'd probably set up stupid stuff like this for shits and giggles too. And then if the world does end for whatever reason, you get to go out with a bang and a band. Not too bad.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I thought CNN was the left wing Fox?

MSNBC is the "left wing Fox". CNN is just purely incompetent and afraid of pissing off anyone.

This is idiotic by the way. Who the fuck would tune in on CNN if the world was about to end?

 

[Ajarat]

set up stupid stuff like this for shits and giggles too.

I doubt that he did it "for shits and giggles." I'm willing to bet he is full enough of himself to actually think he'll be relevant in the situation of the world ending and seriously believes something like this is necessary. Then again, with the tremendous impact modern media has on the political frame of the world through lobbying and graft (oops, campaign contributions... I always confuse the two), it'd most likely be idiots like him who play a major part in the end of the world should it ever happen by some means of mankind.

 

[RaikuFA]

After that whole Stubenville thing I don't think they're any better than Fox News.

Also wouldn't put this past Turner.

 

[newwiseman]

Say what you will of the quality and content of their "news" coverage, at least they have their theoretical bases covered. The real question is whether the clip set to play after a glass covered button is unlocked and subsequently pressed in a control booth somewhere or will an intern have to run down to the archives while the world burns?

 

[Pyrian]

Who the fuck would tune in on CNN if the world was about to end?

Disasters spur ratings for news networks.

 

[ColaWarVeteran]

This needs to be added to the next Fallout game in some way. Maybe have a special radio station that just plays Nearer My God To Thee.

 

[vid87]

I'm torn between snarky comments:

-I won't be clicking the link: I prefer my apocalypse spoiler-free.

-This should be broadcast on Twitter: at least then I'll know it's accurate.

 

[TornadoADV]

This was basically meant for the last few minutes before the impact of the first wave of nuclear warheads between a full nuclear exchange.

 

[Meximagician]

Oh please, between overrelying on viewers sending in stories and laying off their science and tech staff, CNN would be the last to know the world was ending.

Besides, they'll be too busy playing with their Minority Report-esque panels and augmented reality scatter graphs to notice.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

"Exactly who is expected to be onhand at CNN in order to confirm or execute such a command in such circumstances is not immediately clear."

Obviously Ted Turner asked the Horsemen of the Apocalypse to pretty please pop in before their wild ride and press "Play".
I'm a bit dissapointed by the content.

This is of course the ultimate video for that event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw

Hair metal, yo!!!

 

[CaptainMidlands]

I'm not American so I don't understand this CNN bashing but for those questioning the doomsday aspect its not actually that surprising something like this was prepared.

For years the BBC has had a similar recording prepared in the event of Thermonuclear war and each prime minister of the UK writes a letter to be kept under lock and key on the 4 trident submarines to be opened and read in the event of the cabinet being taken out during an initial strike giving orders to the captains on what to do, these letters are then destroyed when a Prime Minister leaves office

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartime_Broadcasting_Service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_of_last_resort

 

[Lightknight]

Doomsday clips aren't actually a bad idea to keep around. Depending on the form of the doomsday, it would be one of those last forms of man's legacies to leave to the survivors or those straggling to die and any life form that may happen upon our ruins through evolution of existing creatures or alien contact.

I guess the point is, why not?

 

[Lilani]

I'm not American so I don't understand this CNN bashing but for those questioning the doomsday aspect its not actually that surprising something like this was prepared.

For years the BBC has had a similar recording prepared in the event of Thermonuclear war and each prime minister of the UK writes a letter to be kept under lock and key on the 4 trident submarines to be opened and read in the event of the cabinet being taken out during an initial strike giving orders to the captains on what to do, these letters are then destroyed when a Prime Minister leaves office

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartime_Broadcasting_Service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_of_last_resort

American news networks have their own personalities, caused by their desire to attract certain audiences and the lengths they go in order to attract then. MSNBC favors liberals (that is, he American definition of liberal, so center to center right by the way the rest of the world measures), and sometimes has trouble telling news from editorial when broadcasting news stories. FOX favors American conservatives and has trouble telling fact from fiction when broadcasting its news stories. CNN is a bit more left than FOX but not as pronounced as MSNBC, but in my experience they have a habit of adding weird, tangential narratives to stories which muddle the news. I remember once there was some high school football player being accused of rape, and CNN was going on about how the accused hadn't seen his father in years and that the case was opening up a situation where they might see one another again. But it was in a triumphant way, and felt really weird juxtaposed against the fact that he was accused of having sex with a girl who was passed out drunk. I didn't see any other news network pursuing this angle of the story, and that's when I stopped paying much mind to CNN.

I mostly get my American news from NPR and the BBC. NPR is a bit liberal but doesn't engage in the kind of theatrics of other major news networks, and the BBC doesnt have any stake in American politics or audiences which is a breath of fresh air. I also use the CBC news app as another source of world news. Canadian news is also refreshingly theatrics free, at least compared to American news.

 

[BoogieManFL]

So it's more accurately described as the clip being VERIFIED and not REVEALED?

 

[CaitSeith]

Wait a minute. If this is to be showcasted at the confirmation of the End of the World, there won't be no one alive to put it on air nor to watch it! The World would end in just before that moment!