From the TV show 'Max Headroom-20 Minutes Into The Future', 1987:
Edison : 'Since when has news been entertainment?!'
Murray : 'Er ... since it was invented?'

Transport yourself 20 minutes into the future and picture a large control room. In this control room is a wall of TV monitors. Images flicker across the screens. In the center of these monitors is positioned one very large screen - the Master Monitor. Below this wall of ever changing images sit people at work stations, wearing headsets consisting of headphones and microphones. Each person is watching the set of monitors to which they have been assigned. As they watch they type messages to the individuals, who are responsible for the images that appear in front of them. These messages appear in the viewfinders of video cameras being operated by video-stringers*, located around the world.

Behind the people at their work stations is a man pacing back and forth. He is wearing the same type of headgear. Every now and then he stops and points to one of the smaller monitors on the wall and speaks into his microphone.
Suddenly the image on the Master Monitor changes. What is now being viewed on the Master Monitor is fed out onto the internet and millions of people sitting at home, in cafes or at the office are viewing this new image.
The people in front of the keyboards continue watching and typing, the man behind then keeps pacing. In a few seconds or minutes the images going out over the net will change. This process goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's reality based television in its purest form, often with no commentary other than that given by the camera operator. The video comes from cameras on the dash boards of police cars and fire trucks, from citizen groups patrolling their neighborhoods in an effort to control crime and from people at public events.
Where you find a person with a video camera you find the potential for a live broadcast. In most cases, if the video is picked up and re-broadcasts, the individual responsible will receive payment.

It's global video voyeurism complete with advertisements and parental warnings. It's news, live and raw.
(*stringer=string correspondent, journalism)

The little scenario above is not a reality. Not yet at least. With technology moving at the pace it is, just how long will it be before an 'average' person with a video camera standing anywhere in the world can turn it on, start shooting, have his signal hit a satellite and then have it bounced back down to a waiting news organization. The major news networks can't be everywhere and there seems to be no end to the public's appetite for reality based television.
Whenever there is a car being chased by the police in Los Angeles and the news helicopters are on the scene broadcasting live, the television stations carrying the chase have their ratings go through the roof. There is now even a service available in Los Angeles that will call the anxious viewer on his pager and inform him that there is a pursuit taking place on TV.

Of course in addition to instantaneous news and information, there could be another side to this little scenario. George Orwell wrote about the big brother in his book '1984' - Forget it! It will be more like your neighbor with a video camera.

For now we have to settle for what is available. Connect offers over 1000 cameras positioned around the world. Every major news organization in America offers video news and commentary on demand in one form or the other. As I said the little scenario above takes place in the future. Then again, there are many who believe the future is now.

k.s-j.

Here is just a sample of what is currently available via the internet:

Connect TV, live views from around the world (1335 cameras on line)
connectv.2nd.net

MSNBC Video news
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/video/video_news.asp

BBC, News In Video
news.bbc.co.uk

NBC VideoSeeker
www.videoseeker.com

CNNvideoselect
cnn.com/videoselect/netshow

CBS Video Now
www.cbs.com/network/htdocs/netshow

CNBC Business Video
www.business.cnbcdowjones.com

ABC News Video Moments
abcnews.go.com

ITN World News for Public Television
www.itn.co.uk/video_on_demand

Bloomberg Online
www.bloomberg.com/videos

Fox News Video
foxnews.com/video

ESPN ZoneMedia
espn.go.com