Today in history: CBC Newsworld launched

Twenty years ago, on July 31, 1989, I had the honour and privilege of producing and editing the newscast that launched Canada's 24-hour cable news network, Newsworld.

The service, which was headed by CBC Journalist Joan Donaldson, was launched from Halifax, Nova Scotia at 7 AM. Donaldson, who died in 2006, called it "a new chapter in what is a very proud tradition of news and current affairs in Canada."

She added, "From every province across this country CBC Newsworld will begin this morning to tell the stories, to talk to the newsmakers, to cover the events that shape our lives. From our foreign bureaus around the world we'll bring you Canadian perspective to the international scene."

Donaldson said Newsworld would be available 24 hours a day. "When you need to know, come to CBC Newsworld; we'll be your eyes on Canada and the rest of the world," she promised.

Watch the CBC Newsworld launch video on YOUTUBE

The formal launch was preceded by a brief on-air address by the CBC's President Pierre Juneau, who was leaving office that same day after seven years. Juneau called it a tribute to the quality of the depth of CBC's journalistic operations.

"This channel will give Canadians every hour of the day an opportunity to see our news as it unfolds, an opportunity also to share more stories from every part of the country and an opportunity to an increased amount of international news to see the world both as others see it and also through Canadian eyes," Juneau said.

"I trust CBC Newsworld will became a vital part of your day world. It is for me one of the joyful legacies of seven great years."

Watch the CBC news report on the launch of NEWSWORLD

In the two decades that we have been on the air we have indeed become a part of the daily lives of Canadians and we have not failed those whose vision created the network.

Behind the familiar on-air faces that launched the service were a much larger number of support staff who worked tirelessly to make it happen.

It was Paul Griffin in Halifax who said the first words to mark our birth: "Good Morning and welcome to Newsworld Morning from Halifax."

Beth Gaines joined Paul to offer some of the inaugural show's menu and introduced Jane Gilbert who greeted everyone with the news that: "...An American hostage in Lebanon faces execution in two hours time. His captors say they will kill him unless Israel releases a top Muslim leader they kidnapped last Friday."

Steve Knifton wrote the story.

George Boyd, the award-winning Halifax journalist, later presented the morning's sports package. It was a historic moment for Newsworld and for George, who became the first black journalist to host a segment of a national television news program.

Watch the opening minute on YOUTUBE

That lead story turned out to be the international story of the day. By the time we signed off from Halifax at noon, Col. William Higgins had been killed and there was no sign that Israel was about to release Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid, a captured Lebanese Shia Muslim cleric with the Pro-Iranian Party of God.

Over the years, I edited thousands of other newscasts for CBC Newsworld, and produced dozens of current affairs magazine shows, including AGENDA with Joanne Stefanyck. But I didn't do any of it alone.

Our team included journalists, producers, editors, technicians and others in Halifax, other Canadian cities and our international bureaus.

We were witness to the fall the Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war, we brought home to the nation's living rooms the first Gulf War and led the way in the coverage of "lesser" stories like the Muslimeen coup in Trinidad and Tobago.

At home we were first with every breaking news event, presenting stories of people and their lives as they happened, often without editorial intervention, like the actuality of the OKA crisis.

I am thankful to all those who supported me and our network by contributing their journalistic and technical professionalism to make Newsworld the success it soon became.

And my very special thanks to Sandy McKean, Newsworld's Executive Producer in Halifax, who led the team that launched the servive. Sandy trusted me and my editorial judgment and asked me to edit the first newscast to air on our service. Sandy's faith in me gave me the opportunity to a part of Canadian journalism and broadcasting history. Thank you, Sandy!

Not many people remember this event, except people like Bob Sudeyko who was one of our anchors in Winnipeg that day and who now works for our online service cbcnews.ca, and Jane Gilbert, our dedicated news anchor in Halifax, who presented the historic first newscast on Newsworld. Thanks for remembering!

We began with a invitation to "Join the World in Progress" and we have kept our word.

Happy birthday Newsworld!