The Revolution Will Not Be Televised : China Coverage a Dramatic Coup for CNN Team

Friday was the day of history, the day of revolution, the day of troops refusing to march on the people, the day of the news blackout.

And it was the day CNN beat the tar out of the other networks.

CNN did that by doing what it always does when there is a breaking story. It stayed on the air. No big deal?

Very big deal.

In its 50 years of existence, this was American television’s first revolution. Or at least near revolution.

It was extraordinary television, a live chronicle of the movement toward radical change in the People’s Republic of China against an ominous background of possible military action against masses of protesters demanding democratic reforms.

All visible from your home.

Into that scenario CNN injected another dramatic element--live pictures and sounds of its own people trying every trick they could think of to circumvent or at least delay a shutdown of TV transmission ordered by the Chinese government.

In Los Angeles, it was late Friday afternoon. In Beijing, it was late Saturday morning. And from everywhere, it looked incredible.

Twenty-six minutes of transmission left.

The voice belonged to CNN anchorman Bernard Shaw, who 32 minutes earlier, in a breathless voice, had opened CNN’s last gasp of live coverage by reporting the government’s order to end transmission from Beijing in less than an hour. The order appeared to be a desperate response to unrest that had grown into a mushroom cloud during Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s historic visit to Beijing. There was speculation that the government was planning to sweep away the demonstrators, and didn’t want TV cameras to record the expected bloody crackdown.

“You are here to report on Gorbachev,” the government statement said. “Gorbachev is gone. Your task is over.”

Displaying shrewd news judgment, only CNN and CBS News were willing to commit the personnel, resources and money for substantial live coverage of the Sino-Soviet summit. Shaw and CBS’ Dan Rather anchored their newscasts from Beijing, while ABC and NBC merely incorporated spot stories about the summit and demonstrations into their regular New York-based newscasts.

On Thursday, CBS originated a live installment of “48 Hours” from Beijing. But on Friday, CNN creamed everyone, including ABC and NBC, which were outflanked all week, and deserved to be.

On CNN, Shaw counted down the minutes to the expected TV shutdown like NASA counting the minutes to liftoff.

In 22 minutes, we will be commanded off the satellite.

Was it really possible that you were watching this from your home? You felt excited. You felt apprehension. You felt you were front row center to history.

Beijing’s Tian An Men Square was filling, as Shaw and two CNN bureau chiefs--Mike Chinoy from Beijing and Steve Hurst from Moscow--discussed the charged atmosphere and reports that advancing troops had been persuaded to turn back by protesting students who appealed to their patriotism.

A CNN camera followed an open truck across the Square. It overflowed with waving, cheering students, one of whom waved a huge red banner. The scene evoked memories of the euphoria in Hungary that preceded the brutal put-down of its 1956 rebellion.

In the Square, CNN reporter Jeanne Moos interviewed a student. “The Army will be on our side,” said the student. But he was afraid to give Moos his name. Was something about to happen? And if it did, would CNN be on the air to witness it?

We have about 12 to 13 minutes left on the satellite.

Created by Ted Turner in 1980, 24-hour CNN long ago proved its mettle by its omnipresence on big stories. It’s America’s indispensable observer. While ABC, CBS and NBC think first of entertainment--and very rarely eclipse a regular program for a breaking news story--CNN thinks only of news. “Hold on just a second,” Shaw said. “There’s a bulletin here from Reuters. . . . Martial law has been imposed on portions of Beijing.”

While the other networks were now otherwise occupied, significant history was unfolding on CNN, instantly, immediately, excitingly.

We have about five minutes left on the bird.

It was time for personal journalism, as Shaw informed “loved ones” that he and his CNN colleagues felt in no danger.

We have about two and a half minutes left on the satellite.

No scripted thriller has been more suspenseful. You could almost hear the clock ticking.

We have about 12 seconds left on the satellite.

Shaw turned out to be mistaken, for CNN--and American viewers--got a reprieve when Alec Miran, executive producer for the Beijing coverage, refused to accede to the Chinese order to end transmission without a letter to that effect from the government.

A letter? Was he joking? He sounded like a man trying to talk the firing squad out of execution as he was being blindfolded and tied to the post.

It was by letter that CNN earlier had required coverage of the Sino-Soviet summit, Miran told the Chinese officials who had entered the control room, so CNN would now need a letter from the Chinese in order to terminate prematurely.

Surely the Chinese would not fall for that? Surely. . . . They did. The Chinese officials seemed baffled, thunderstruck.

This was a CNN master stroke designed to buy time.

In an amazing display of chutzpah, an American television network was negotiating with a foreign government for its satellite life, in front of its own cameras. The debate went on and on.

Then there was a tight shot of the Chinese characters being written on a yellow legal pad by a Chinese official who had been authorized by the Foreign Ministry to prepare the written directive demanded by CNN.

On a yellow legal pad? On the streets, there was potential revolution. In the control room, there was farce.

And finally, on the screen, there was black, as CNN left the air at 11:05 a.m., but only after managing to extend the deadline an hour, and give its viewers an unforgettable show.

Afterward, CNN aired intermittent audio updates from Shaw and others. Meanwhile, ABC, CBS and NBC aired their regularly scheduled entertainment programs. (CBS interrupted “Beauty and the Beast” with a 3-minute update that concluded with the break of the satellite link from Beijing.)

Friday showed what they were made of. And it showed what CNN was made of.