A news cycle is the time between the release of a news bulletin and the follow-up edition. It was originally associated with newspapers but is now applied to all forms of news distribution. Magazines and TV news have their own cycles, while radio has hourly updates. Cable TV has changed the cycle of many TV stations.
A news cycle is defined as the amount of time between the release of an edition of a news bulletin and the follow-up edition. The most common example of a news cycle would be the daily newspaper. Released early one day in the morning, the next edition does not appear until about twenty-four hours later. That one-day period between the daily edition makes up a news cycle. Originally associated with newspapers, the term is today applied across all forms of news distribution.
Newspapers aren’t the only form of print media with a cycle. A number of magazines devoted to high-profile news events operate with a week-long news cycle. Each new edition presents news and events that occurred in the seven days since the last publication. Alongside the big news, there are a number of weekly publications that specialize in entertainment news, providing a constant stream of celebrity information to a curious audience.
Once upon a time, newscasts were built around a news cycle that usually consisted of a few hours between news broadcasts. Typically, early morning newscasts, which ran for fifteen to thirty minutes, allowed people to catch up on world events before leaving for work. A second news offering would be presented around the middle of the day and a third news offering would take place around dinnertime.
The advent of cable television has significantly changed the cycle of many television stations, as networks devoted exclusively to news effectively provide access to the latest global developments at any time of day or night. In some cases, the new noon broadcast was cut short. A number of markets rely strictly on early morning network television news. Local news is often relegated to dinner time and a late night edition.
Radio continues to follow the same cycle that has characterized the medium for decades. Often, a short news update appears at the top of each hour. This hour-long interval between news breaks is perhaps the shortest continuous news cycle in today’s media, except for the constant news broadcasts found on several cable television stations.
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