In my lifetime, I don’t think that I have seen a brand rise and fall to the extent as has CNN.

Ted Turner did the world a favor when he conceived of and supported the development and success of CNN. It is reported that it took CNN 14 years to turn a profit. Turner stuck with the network through the lean years because he thought it was important that the World have a unbiased news source.

CNN was so important that I believe that it contributed mightily to the fall of the Soviet Union. Once satellite TV and CNN entered the old Soviet Union with unbiased reporting from the rest of the world, there was no way for communism to hold sway with its people. When Gorbachev signed the papers dissolving the Soviet Union, his pen ran out of ink. He turned to the man standing behind him, Tom Johnson, at that time CEO of CNN and borrowed a Mont Blanc pen that Tom’s wife had given him for Christmas. Was it an irony of fate that the head of the Soviet Union signed the papers to dissolve it with the personal pen of the CEO of CNN?

Now this week we are told that research shows that the Most Trusted Source of News is no longer CNN, but the Fox Network. Every person involved in Brand Management should give this a study. What happens when a brand loses its focus? A sad example is right in front of you on your new HDTV.