James Duran

Today, the world reflects on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. We join in remembering the victims of the tragic day, as well as commemorating the heroes who, in the face of unimaginable danger, risked their lives to save those in need. After a quarter-century, the iconic phrase “Never… Read More

This is the final entry in a 4 part series uncovering U.S. national news coverage of Venezuela from 1968 to 2025. Maduro replaces Chávez As U.S.-Venezuelan relations cooled under the Obama administration, American news media lost interest in Hugo Chávez’s continued dominance over Venezuela. The news offered periodic bulletins from… Read More

This article is part 3 in a 4 part series uncovering U.S. national news coverage of Venezuela from 1968 to 2025. Hugo Chávez vs. The United States As the United States was holding its presidential elections in November 1992, Hugo Chávez, a colonel in Venezuela’s Army attempted and failed to… Read More

This article is part 2 in a 4 part series uncovering U.S. national news coverage of Venezuela from 1968 to 2025. Oil, revolution, and connections to the Middle East As the energy crisis continued, the news networks reported on newsworthy events in Venezuela, South America, and beyond [10]. The summer… Read More

This article is part 1 in a 4 part series uncovering U.S. national news coverage of Venezuela from 1968 to 2025. Part 2: 1979-1989, Part 3: 1990-2008, and Part 4: 2012-2026 are now available. On January 3, 2026, President Trump announced the U.S. military had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and was bringing him to New York… Read More

The Vanderbilt Television News Archive’s Director, Jim Duran, and Data Engineer, Vaibhav Ravinutala, are rebuilding metadata pipelines for newly digitized or recorded television news broadcasts. Thanks to the Vanderbilt University’s Heard Libraries’ investment in a new web application and database service, the TVNA is adopting the latest innovations in technology… Read More

Last week, Steve Davis and I attended the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) 2025 Annual Conference where we reconnected with our fellow archivists and television news collectors in Baltimore, Maryland. This year’s conference highlighted the growing interest in preserving news media – especially programs from local television stations. Read More

The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2023 spurred a race by big tech companies to create more sophisticated and useful large language models and artificial intelligence tools. The news media has documented the technology race and its implications for society. Reports mostly focus on AI’s impact on jobs and… Read More

Video Archivist, Steve Davis, and TV News Archive intern Maddie Blake presented the legacy of video tape and digitization this past Saturday at “Fall into STEAM,” at the Vanderbilt University Peabody Library. The exhibit offered a hands-on learning experience for children, with opportunities to see and hold legacy audiovisual… Read More

From early computing in the 1960s and 1970s with fears of data gathering and communication, to the 80s and 90s and the rise of personal computers. Broadcast evening news reports succinctly encapsulate the excitement and fears of Americans as new technologies move from science fiction into our every day lives. Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new website platform and database for the Television News Archive. The new system includes improvements to search capabilities, browsing by date, automatic delivery of loans, single sign on for VU users and sponsoring institutions, and… Read More