To My Kids Sensie...
---Dear Sensie, Here is the answers to your questions about Ted Turner and how much control he has..---
Live Link Above.
Turner: CNN spends too much time on 'pervert of the day'
CNN should cover international news and the environment, not the "pervert of the day," network founder Ted Turner said Wednesday as the world's first 24-hour news network turned 25.
Turner, an outspoken media mogul who started CNN in 1980 but no longer has control over the network, said he envisioned CNN as a place where "trivial news" like rapes and murders that dominated local news wouldn't be emphasized. But recently, he said, he's seeing too much of that "trivial news" on the network he created, now second in ratings to rival Fox News Channel.
"I would like to see us to return to a little more international coverage on the domestic feed and a little more environmental coverage, and, maybe, maybe a little less of the pervert of the day," he said in a speech to CNN employees outside the old Atlanta mansion where the network first aired.
"You know, we have a lot of perverts on today, and I know that, but is that really news? I mean, come on. I guess you've got to cover Michael Jackson, but not three stories about perversion that we do every day as well."
His remark won applause and laughter from CNN employees, but the moderator for Turner's remarks, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, said, "But everyone else is doing that. Why do you think it's important not to?"
Turner replied, "Somebody's got to be a serious news person. Somebody's got to be the most respected name in television news, and I wanted that position for CNN.
"I wanted to be the New York Times of the airwaves. Not the New York Post, but the New York Times. And that's what we set out to do, and we did it."
The brash Turner acknowledged that CNN wasn't all highbrow when he was in charge, either. "We followed O.J. Simpson around L.A. a lot, and we had Jessica in the well. It was pretty trivial, but high-interest."
Turner, 65, also took a jab at Gerald Levin, the former CEO of AOL Time Warner whom Turner blames for forcing him out of the media giant after it merged with Turner Broadcasting. Talking about how CNN positioned itself to cover the first war in Iraq in 1991, Turner said CNN beat everyone else by having friendships beforehand with Iraqi television workers.
"You can be nice sometimes and it works out real well. On the other hand, you can be nice to Jerry Levin..." he trailed off, to more laughter. "I'd rather put myself in Iraqi hands than some Americans."
As usual, Turner made his biting remarks with a roguish smile. Sitting back in a chair for the Q-and-A, most of the media pioneer's comments were laudatory of the network, which he called his greatest professional achievement. Turner has always had more panache than diplomacy, and he at one point in the program claimed partial credit for ending the Cold War.
He talked about his role in ending the Cold War, and Amanpour asked his if he honestly thought he had a hand in it. "I'm absolutely certain I did," he said.
It sounds like a stretch, and it is, but the CNN employees gathered Wednesday said they felt the network created a conduit for international dialogue and that CNN has changed the world.
"Anyone with a sense of history understands the significance of what started in this place on this day 25 years ago," said Phil Kent, current CEO of Turner Broadcasting. "Many talk about the world being a global village. But through the creation of CNN, Ted Turner made the world a global village."
Amanpour joked that most of CNN's early employees were recent college grads who had little faith themselves that CNN would turn into a major media outlet.
"We thought it was a stepping stone to the big leagues," she said. "But this was the big leagues."
Live Link Above.
Turner: CNN spends too much time on 'pervert of the day'
CNN should cover international news and the environment, not the "pervert of the day," network founder Ted Turner said Wednesday as the world's first 24-hour news network turned 25.
Turner, an outspoken media mogul who started CNN in 1980 but no longer has control over the network, said he envisioned CNN as a place where "trivial news" like rapes and murders that dominated local news wouldn't be emphasized. But recently, he said, he's seeing too much of that "trivial news" on the network he created, now second in ratings to rival Fox News Channel.
"I would like to see us to return to a little more international coverage on the domestic feed and a little more environmental coverage, and, maybe, maybe a little less of the pervert of the day," he said in a speech to CNN employees outside the old Atlanta mansion where the network first aired.
"You know, we have a lot of perverts on today, and I know that, but is that really news? I mean, come on. I guess you've got to cover Michael Jackson, but not three stories about perversion that we do every day as well."
His remark won applause and laughter from CNN employees, but the moderator for Turner's remarks, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, said, "But everyone else is doing that. Why do you think it's important not to?"
Turner replied, "Somebody's got to be a serious news person. Somebody's got to be the most respected name in television news, and I wanted that position for CNN.
"I wanted to be the New York Times of the airwaves. Not the New York Post, but the New York Times. And that's what we set out to do, and we did it."
The brash Turner acknowledged that CNN wasn't all highbrow when he was in charge, either. "We followed O.J. Simpson around L.A. a lot, and we had Jessica in the well. It was pretty trivial, but high-interest."
Turner, 65, also took a jab at Gerald Levin, the former CEO of AOL Time Warner whom Turner blames for forcing him out of the media giant after it merged with Turner Broadcasting. Talking about how CNN positioned itself to cover the first war in Iraq in 1991, Turner said CNN beat everyone else by having friendships beforehand with Iraqi television workers.
"You can be nice sometimes and it works out real well. On the other hand, you can be nice to Jerry Levin..." he trailed off, to more laughter. "I'd rather put myself in Iraqi hands than some Americans."
As usual, Turner made his biting remarks with a roguish smile. Sitting back in a chair for the Q-and-A, most of the media pioneer's comments were laudatory of the network, which he called his greatest professional achievement. Turner has always had more panache than diplomacy, and he at one point in the program claimed partial credit for ending the Cold War.
He talked about his role in ending the Cold War, and Amanpour asked his if he honestly thought he had a hand in it. "I'm absolutely certain I did," he said.
It sounds like a stretch, and it is, but the CNN employees gathered Wednesday said they felt the network created a conduit for international dialogue and that CNN has changed the world.
"Anyone with a sense of history understands the significance of what started in this place on this day 25 years ago," said Phil Kent, current CEO of Turner Broadcasting. "Many talk about the world being a global village. But through the creation of CNN, Ted Turner made the world a global village."
Amanpour joked that most of CNN's early employees were recent college grads who had little faith themselves that CNN would turn into a major media outlet.
"We thought it was a stepping stone to the big leagues," she said. "But this was the big leagues."
posted by Christy at 7:03 AM
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