Truth Social post<\/a> today, calling the CNN founder \u201cone of the Greats of All Time\u201d and \u201ca friend of mine\u201d who was \u201calways willing to fight for a good cause.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cTed was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own Judgement. He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN,\u201d Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, told The Post in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cTed is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus of News Corp and Fox Corporation, also paid tribute to his friend, Turner.<\/p>\n
\u201cTed Turner\u2019s vision for 24-hour cable news transformed the media industry and gave viewers everywhere a front seat to witness history unfold. His impact as a trailblazer has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape,\u201d Mr Murdoch said. \u201cHe was a great American and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ohio native founded the Cable News Network on June 1, 1980, at a converted Jewish country club in Atlanta, ultimately building it out into a continuous, global news network with a sprawl of other bureaus.<\/p>\n
At first, there were doubts around whether CNN could carve out its own niche in broadcast news, with some critics dubbing it \u201cChicken Noodle News\u201d \u2013 mocking the network\u2019s lower budget and on-air slips.<\/p>\n
But Turner\u2019s network proved itself during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, when it was the sole US network to broadcast a live, unedited feed from Baghdad as bombs illuminated the sky.<\/p>\n
Its live coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Chinese student protests in Tiananmen Square and the space shuttle Challenger explosion further solidified it as a dominant source of world news for Americans.<\/p>\n
Nicknamed \u201cThe Mouth of the South\u201d for his bold nature, Turner had a famous rivalry with Murdoch, owner of Fox News and The New York Post, and a surprising friendship with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.<\/p>\n
He was married and divorced three times. His third marriage to Hollywood star Jane Fonda in 1991 lasted nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
As rival media mavericks swooped in to launch their own cable news networks, Turner took on substantial debt as he attempted a dealmaking spree to save his media empire.<\/p>\n
He was eventually forced to sell CNN and Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner for roughly $7.34 billion in 1996, which he later said was a regret and the \u201cworst day of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2000, Time Warner sold itself to AOL. It is widely considered one of the worst media mergers in US history, and Turner called it \u201cone of the biggest disasters that have occurred to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his social media post Wednesday, Trump wrote: \u201cHe [Turner] founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his \u2018baby,\u2019 and destroyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became woke, and everything that he is not all about. Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n
CNN\u2019s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is currently in the process of being sold to Paramount Skydance, which is run by the billionaire Ellison family, as part of a $111 billion deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cTed was a visionary, a trailblazer, and a foundational force behind many of the brands that are central to Warner Bros. Discovery today,\u201d WBD CEO David Zaslav said in a note to staffers Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn behalf of our entire company, we extend our deepest condolences to Ted\u2019s family and to the many colleagues and partners whose lives and careers were shaped by his vision. It is our responsibility to honour and carry forward the legacy he built.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared on Page Six <\/a>and is republished here with permission. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ted Turner, the media mogul behind CNN, which revolutionised TV news as the first 24-hour cable network, died…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2095,4131,4996,64,63,316444,316443,316450,316442,316440,316435,316425,485,211310,447,316437,19757,316429,316434,42677,316454,2490,193944,134,102491,316439,316430,89920,115157,1973,316441,15148,316445,2082,316433,316438,186183,316448,98907,12280,26504,316431,2041,2067,12293,316451,316424,316447,27067,42307,316436,316426,316432,316452,316427,316446,316428,2614,285505,1346,316449,316453],"class_list":["post-654246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-america","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-billionaire-media-mogul","tag-bison-rancher","tag-bold-nature","tag-cable-network","tag-cable-news","tag-cable-news-network-inc","tag-cable-news-networks","tag-california","tag-cartoon-network","tag-celebrities","tag-chinese-student","tag-country-club","tag-critics-dubbing","tag-cuban-dictator","tag-david-zaslav","tag-dominant-source","tag-donald-trump","tag-ellison","tag-entertainment","tag-famous-rivalry","tag-fans-beg","tag-fidel-castro","tag-fox-corporation","tag-fox-news-channel","tag-hollywood","tag-influential-media-mogul","tag-jane-fonda","tag-john-bazemore","tag-mark-thompson","tag-media-empire","tag-media-entrepreneur","tag-media-industry","tag-media-mogul","tag-muscle-failure","tag-new-york-post-company","tag-news-corporation","tag-noodle-news","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-ohio","tag-presiding-spirit","tag-rehab-centre","tag-rival-media-mavericks","tag-rupert-murdoch","tag-state-of-georgia","tag-substantial-debt","tag-ted-turner","tag-time-warner-inc","tag-turner-broadcasting-system-inc","tag-turner-enterprises","tag-unedited-feed","tag-united-nations-foundation","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-warner-bros-inc","tag-world-news","tag-worst-media-mergers","tag-yacht-collector"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}