A pioneer has died, whose work is summed up in three letters: CNN.
“Ted Turner, media entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded CNN, an innovative 24-hour news network that revolutionized news television, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by his family,” according to a statement from Turner Enterprises. He was 87 years old.
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CNN aired on June 1, 1980, and its success led to the emergence of other channels, such as Fox News, its antithesis
Thus began the obituary of the revolutionary non-stop cable network dedicated to its creator. “Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, fearless, brave, and always willing to follow a hunch and trust his own judgment,” said CNN President and CEO Mark Thompson in a statement. “He was and always will be the guiding spirit of CNN,” he affirmed.
His death comes at a critical moment. The independence of his channel is at risk if the purchase of Warner Studios, the conglomerate that includes this television company, by the Paramount Skydance group, owned by the Ellisons (father and son), good friends of Trump, is confirmed.
Lately, the magnate has not hidden his desire for the acquisition to be completed and for the Ellisons to go all out to turn CNN into a propaganda, manipulation, and cult organ for him, as Fox News does.
It was on June 1, 1980, when Turner’s most representative creation opened. CNN (Cable News Network) revolutionized news television by offering news day and night. But his business portfolio covered much more, as did his impact on American culture. In 1985, he bought the MGM studio’s film library for $1.5 billion and later created the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable franchise.
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He made a similar purchase of Hanna-Barbera cartoons and created Cartoon Network in 1992. In 1996, he merged Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner to create one of the largest media companies in the world. Another expression is attributed to Turner: breaking news.
He was known as a rebel (they called him “El boca del Sur” or “Captain Outrageous”) and had time to sail and win the America’s Cup in 1977. He was the first non-professional sailor to achieve it with the Courageous and celebrated so much that at the press conference, visibly affected by alcohol, he fell under the table. A scandal in front of the yacht club aristocrats. “I’m not a bad guy, I’m just a little exuberant,” he justified. He was also the owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. “I’ve won more than many,” he once declared.
“I’m trying to set the all-time record for achievements by a single person in a single lifetime,” he said in a Reader’s Digest article in 1998. “And that puts you in pretty big company: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Gandhi, Christ, Muhammad, Buddha, Washington, Roosevelt, Churchill.”
If necessary, he was willing “to cover the end of the world live.” He didn’t have time.
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