the way CNN really made its mark in the world was the coverage of the overthrow of Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos who gave it 24-hour news coverage over the weekend. Being on air it gave the popular uprising access to broadcasting to the world, which was spellbinding. If you wanted to know how the revolution was going, you tuned in to CNN. Other news services couldn't compete and the US government who couldn't get a straight answer from the regime as to what was happening tuned into CNN. Thats the way it was. CNN is now the marker, all other 24 hour networks model and shape their broadcasting on the CNN format. So if the ABC is going to last in its niche it needs to stop picking and choosing between BBC news production and everything else. The overlapping and duplication is still stupefying, but its the way of things, as Mark Scott appears to be indicating. However, ABC innovation reaches new heights at times. The Drum is unique, as is the best twitterer in the business Latika Bourke. There is nothing quite like the Drum anywhere that has combines internet and live broadcasting as a unit. And using tweeter as a reporting tool is a brilliant move. Before Latika there was nothing in Australia to match her. Now everyone is doing it. The ABC gets a nod for that. One would hope being different would still be a goal than seeking to be the mainstream. Being different is where