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[image] Sky News logo

FIRST:

Since it launched in 1989 Sky News had developed a strong reputation for the speed and accuracy with which it breaks major news stories. Below is a summary of some of Sky News' highlights.

First with news of the:

 

  • Discovery of missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews
  • Suicide of Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Michael Todd
  • Camden fire
  • Death of Hollywood actor Heath Ledger
  • Heathrow BA777 plane crash
  • Result of the Liberal Democrats leadership contest 
  • Charges brought against Anne Darwin, wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist
  • Release of 'teddy teacher' Gillian Gibbons from a Sudan prison
  • Major anti-terror raids in Birmingham
  • Execution of Saddam Hussein
  • Mini tornado hitting North West London
  • Assassination of Lebanese minister
  • BNP Leader Nick Griffin found not guilty of race hate allegations
  • Bunchfield explosion
  • Yo Blair, Bush and Blair conversation (Online Exclusive)
  • Sentencing of Saddam Hussein
  • Clare Short resigning the Labour whip
  • Birth of Gordon Brown's baby boy
  • Lord Levy's arrest in cash-for-honours inquiry
  • Foiled terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight
  • Mumbai commuter train explosions
  • Terror raid in Forest Gate
  • Norman Kember’s release
  • London whale
  • Death of Slobodan Milosevic
  • David Blunkett’s resignation: First with strap saying he was 'expected to resign' at 9:52
  • Buncefield explosion
  • London bombs on 7 July - first to report incidents on the London Underground, and first to report a bomb had exploded on a bus
  • US troops reaching Fardos Square, where the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled, which marked, for many, the fall of Saddam's dictatorship. David Chater broadcast the first live pictures from the streets of Baghdad
  • Air raid sirens sounding in Baghdad, marking the start of the Iraq War
  • Coalition's plans to bomb Afghanistan - within 48 hours of the first raids
  • September 11 terrorist attacks
  • Resignation of Education Minister Estelle Morris
  • Death of The Queen Mother
  • Crash of Concorde, in Paris 
  • Postponement of the 2001 election because of the foot and mouth epidemic
  • Resignation of Geoffrey Robinson, over his loan to Peter Mandelson
  • Deal to sell to the Millennium Dome
  • Resignation of Peter Mandelson over the Hindujas passport affair
  • The Liberation of Kosovo: Sky News was the only channel broadcasting live pictures all day as KFOR entered Kosovo, liberating Pristina
  • Death of the Princess Diana, in a car crash in Paris
  • Cabinet reshuffle - every year
  • Trial results of Lord Archer and Rosemary West as well as the Damilola Taylor, Jill Dando and Sarah Payne murder trial results - and the Paul Burrell trial collapse
  • First UK broadcaster to report from inside Beslan school siege

[image] OJ Simpson on trial
OJ Simpson on trial

First to broadcast live coverage of major court cases:

  • Louise Woodward Trial
  • OJ Simpson Trial


[image] The Hutton inquiry
The Hutton inquiry

First 24-hour news channel to develop innovative techniques to cover public inquiries and trials:

  • The Hutton Inquiry reconstructions
  • The Michael Jackson trial reconstructions
  • Live transcript of the Sion Jenkins and Abu Hamza verdicts


First continuous coverage of:

  • Thames Whale
  • Soham Murders
  • Gulf War
  • The Good Friday negotiations in Belfast

First on the scene of the:

  • Jenin Refuge camp
  • Asian Tsunami: first to dispatch anchors to cover the disaster

[image] John Prescott punch
John Prescott punch

First with pictures of the:

  • Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on fire
  • US/Coalition bombing of Afghanistan
  • Prescott punch
  • Search scene at Mildenhall, near Soham,  where Jessica and Holly's bodies were found


First with interviews with:

  • Tony Blair saying that he would not give up long haul flights during Sky News' Green Britain week
  • President of The Gambia on his herbal 'cure' for HIV (Exclusive)
  • Shilpa Shetty following her Big Brother win (Broadcast)
  • Gordon Brown speaking with Kay Burley about his daughter's death
  • President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe (Exclusive)
  • Ian Huntley before his arrest for Soham murders
  • "the fugitive" Oliver Letwin during the 2001 General Election

First with technology:

  • Launch of Sky News live news text service on Virgin transatlantic flights
  • Launch of world's first interactive television news - Sky News Active

First for impartiality:

  • Named the most impartial 24-hour news channel for its coverage of the 2003 Iraq war in the ITC's 'Conflict around the clock' report (Sky News 75%; ITV News Channel 74%; BBC News 24 68%)

First for awards:

  • RTS News Channel of the Year 2006
  • RTS News International Award for China: The Baby Snatchers 2006
  • RTS Television Journalist of the Year for Dominic Waghorn 2006
  • Foreign Press Association Award: Journalist of the Year- Dominic Waghorn 2006 
  • International Emmy Award for Breaking News 7/7 Bombing coverage.  September 2006
  • Golden Nymph Award for Best 24-hour News Programme 2006 at Monte-Carlo TV Festival
  • RTS Presenter of the Year Award 2005 (Jeremy Thompson)
  • RTS Innovation Award 2005
  • BAFTA News Award for its coverage of the Soham murders
  • BAFTA News Award for its reporting of September 11
  • RTS News Channel of the Year 2001
  • RTS News Channel of the Year 2002
  • RTS News Channel of the Year 2003
  • RTS News Channel of the Year 2004
  • RTS Innovation Award 2003
  • GEITF Non Terrestrial Channel of the Year 2001
  • Commended by the ITC for its "comprehensive coverage" of September 11
  • Two International Emmy Awards 1995

 
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