CNN says that for 20 years it has been bringing you the world. As the world's first 24-hour news network, it signed on the air in June 1980 to 1.7 million cable households in the U.S. Since then it has gone on to notch up an impressive list of more firsts. Its news services around the world now reach a billion people, and stretch across 11 TV networks, 12 Web sites, 37 bureaus and a worldwide staff of more than 4,000. It has received 14 Emmys. "It has been an unforgettable ride. We celebrate the record of accomplishment that has made us the world's television news leader," said CNN founder Ted Turner.
Recently in Tokyo was CNN "Hotspots" presenter Jane Dutton. With her crew she was making a program centering on Tokyo and Osaka. "Japan? I love it, love it," she said. "I always feel very invigorated here."
Only 34, she is a seasoned world traveler who, when she put high school behind her, didn't know what to do. A South African from a long-established family in Johannesburg, she grew up speaking English and Afrikaans. She studied sporadically at three universities, choosing for her subjects politics, journalism, and speech and drama, but says she wasn't ready then for university. Restless in spirit, she pulled out and decided to take off and freelance for a while.