Ted Turner Talks CNN & Politics With Charlie Rose

From Business Insider today:
Turner Broadcasting founder Ted Turner appeared on "CBS This Morning" Thursday and told Charlie Rose that he wishes CNN had “a little less fluff" these days.
Turner lost control of CNN when Time Warner merged with AOL in 2010, which, he reveals, is his biggest regret in business.
"I didn't think I was selling it, I got maneuvered out," Turner explained during the interview. "At Time Warner, I had ten percent of the stock after the merger. But when we merged with AOL, I was diluted down to three percent."
Turner added that the merger was one of the worst days of his life.
As for who should take over as president of the news network when Jim Walton steps down at the end of this year, the media mogul says "I don't know, there's no point in me speculating ... I don't have an influence over CNN anymore."
But as for how to boost the network's recent record-low ratings, Turner says "I'd like to see more hard news and international news."
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Ted Turner

For all the old school CNN/Ted Turner fans there is a great new profile of Turner in The Hollywood Reporter. Enjoy!

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Burt Reinhardt

Burt Reinhardt, a television pioneer who helped lead the evolution of 24-hour news coverage as president of CNN, died Tuesday at 91, according to family members. A tribute to the CNN legend has been posted on CNN.com:

Anderson Cooper also had a segment on AC360 Tuesday night dedicated to Burt:



CNN executives have issued some statements on his passing:

“Burt was a colleague and also a friend. More than anyone, he built the foundation for CNN's global leadership in news. He was an innovator and a mentor to many. He was one of the finest people I have known, and his loss is felt by all of his friends and colleagues across the world.”
~ Phil Kent, Chairman and CEO, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

"I'm sure a lot of people will talk about Burt's fiscal responsibility. but I think what set Burt apart from everyone else who has been at CNN was that he was quietly strong. And behind the scenes, this man has integrity and he's very competitive, but he wants to do things the right way. He's fair, but firm and he treated everyone with respect."
~ Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide

To read more about Burt's contributions to building CNN follow this link.


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CNN's Birthday Bash

TVNewswer's Alissa Krinsky had an exclusive look at the private party former CNNers held this weekend to celebrate the 30th birthday of CNN.
A large crowd of former and current CNNers gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Saturday night to celebrate the network's thirtieth birthday.
The bash — an unofficial gathering organized by former CNN producer Elissa Free — drew over three hundred people and was emceed by former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw.

Read more »

Fredricka Whitfield Talks with Ted Turner

Recently Fredricka Whitfield gave Ted Turner a tour of CNN Atlanta and then they sat down to talk about the 30th anniversary of his news channel.

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Ted Turner Honored by Lupus Foundation of America

More than 600 people turned out tonight for the Lupus Foundation of America’s (LFA) National Butterfly Gala, which recognized Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Enterprises, Inc., Senator, Daniel K. Inouye (HI), Human Genome Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline for their contributions to advancing the science and medicine of lupus, and supporting the millions of people around the world affected by lupus.

During the Butterfly Gala, the LFA and singer/songwriter Julian Lennon announced the establishment of The Lucy Vodden Research Grant Award. The research initiative is named after Lucy Vodden, Julian’s childhood friend who lost her battle with lupus in September of 2009 at the age of 46. Lucy was the subject of a drawing that Julian created which inspired his father to write the classic Beatles song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

Dr. Gary Gilkeson, Medical University of South Carolina and Chair, LFA’s Medical-Scientific Advisory Council, and Julian Lennon presented the award to Lucy Vodden’s husband, Ross Vodden, and her sister, Fran O’Donnell.

Throughout the evening, the LFA recognized each of the honorees for their unique contributions to overcoming this serious and life-threatening illness. Larry King, host of CNN’s Larry King Live, delivered a special congratulatory video message to honoree Ted Turner, who received The Cooper Family Foundation Leadership Award for his long-standing interest in and support of lupus research, and lifetime of philanthropic works.

Senator Daniel K. Inouye (HI), Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, received the National Leadership in Biomedical Research Award for his leadership in advancing federal research at the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and other federal institutions, for better treatments and a cure for lupus.

Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) were recognized with the Corporate Leadership in Lupus Award for their commitment to and innovation in lupus research, resulting in two positive phase III clinical trials for a potential new lupus treatment. H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, HGS, and Peter Hare, Vice President, Immunology Business Unit, GSK, accepted the awards on behalf of the companies.

“On behalf of the LFA, I would like to congratulate all of our honorees,” said Sandra C. Raymond, President and CEO of the Lupus Foundation of America. “I know each of the honorees will continue to bring national attention and resources to lupus and play a significant role in helping us to usher in a new era in lupus, as we build upon the recent progress we’ve seen over the past year.”

Julian Lennon and singer/songwriter James Scott Cook also treated the crowd to a special performance of the tribute song “Lucy.” Last year, Julian Lennon and James Scott Cook released the song “Lucy” in honor of LucyVodden. Proceeds from the song “Lucy” will support The Lucy Vodden Research Grant Award. The grant will fund lupus research through the LFA’s National Research Program, Bringing Down the Barriers, which is part of the LFA’s ongoing commitment to advancing the science and medicine of lupus and finding a cure.

CNN Anchor and Special Correspondent Soledad O’Brien served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. Other notable guests and presenters included Congressman James P. Moran (D-VA, 8th); LFA Board member Dr. Annette Shelby; Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD, 8th); Elliott Sigal, M.D. Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Carol Ann Petren, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CIGNA Corporation and LFA Board member; Kalenna of the musical group DirtyMoney; and LFA National Spokespersons Mercedes Yvette, Tomiko Fraser Hines, and Kelly Jean Drury.

Source: Entertainment, Government, and Industry Leaders Shine Light on Lupus at the Lupus Foundation of America’s National Butterfly Gala

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Ah, If only......

The good ole' days??
From Reuters:

Ted Turner says he'd like to run CNN again

By Paul Bond


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – No knock on his "good friend" Jeff Bewkes -- or on Superman -- but Ted Turner wishes he was running Time Warner so that he could make some changes at Cartoon Network and CNN, the cable news channel he founded 19 years ago.


At CNN, he wants "less fluffy news and more international news," especially about China, Turner said in an interview set to run on Bloomberg TV Friday. "Less talk, more news," he said.

As for Cartoon Network, Turner told anchor Betty Liu, "If I had control of it, I'd put 'Captain Planet' on at a top time period so that kids would see the environmental superhero instead of just Superman."


The environment, along with population control and nuclear disarmament, have been pet projects of Turner's for decades, and he has been spending more time on those issues since retiring from media a decade ago.


But he clearly misses his former occupation. When Liu asked him if there are any media mergers he'd like to see happen, Turner responded: "I'd like to see me running Time Warner." He said later, "I'd like CNN to report to me, and the Cartoon Network."


He did, though, give the thumbs-up to the notion of Comcast acquiring a part of NBC Universal. "Go for it," he said. "You've got to do something. They've got a real good cable system. And they don't have that much programing."


Then again, Turner was also a proponent of AOL's purchase of Time Warner, which, nine years later, is generally regarded as the worst merger in corporate history.


Turner also said that Viacom-CBS mogul Sumner Redstone was correct when he said at a conference that selling Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner was Turner's downfall.
"He's right. I made a mistake. I was tired," Turner told Liu.


Turner also said he "buried the hatchet," as Liu put it, with News Corp. topper Rupert Murdoch about 18 months ago. He dropped him a note the other day telling him he was doing a good job with the Wall Street Journal.


"He didn't write me back. He might not have gotten the letter," he said.
Not that he's a fan of print newspapers: "You're chopping all these trees down and making paper out of them and trying to deal with all the waste paper. It's the biggest solid waste problem that we have."


(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)

SOURCE




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Honoring Veterans

CNN will have special coverage of the re-opening of the Intrepid on Tuesday. The carrier/museum has been closed for two years while massive reconstruction work was done. Heidi Collins will host NewsRoom from there, and also scored a major interview:

Heidi Collins will interview President George W. Bush on Veterans’ Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11. Her interview will appear during The Situation Room beginning at 4 p.m. (ET).

In addition to her interview with the president, Collins will anchor the Tuesday edition of CNN Newsroom from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (ET) live from the deck of the aircraft carrier Intrepid. The Intrepid Museum reopened to the public this week after a $115 million, two-year renovation. Her program will also feature special guests, including former astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Scott Carpenter and Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. There will be approximately 2,500 veterans present at the Intrepid at the time of the broadcast.

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Arwa Damon reports from the scene of today's triple-bomb suicide attack in Baghdad, the worst in four months:

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Barbara Starr is in Afghanistan and reports from an American base near the Pakistan border:

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CNN founder Ted Turner turns 70 next week, and 60 Minutes did a profile of him last night:

Watch CBS Videos Online

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Can you read the bottom line of that graphic? (If not, click on the pic to enlarge it. This isn't a eye exam!) The Guvernator shared a bit TMI with John King:

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I just want to say that I love this promo:

That's it for me. Have a great day -- and thank a Vet!

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In Other News...

Our favorite terrorism expert made a couple of appearances yesterday -- he was scheduled on Late Edition along with New America Foundation President/CEO Steve Coll to discuss the latter's new book about the bin Laden family, but the Taliban attack in Kabul was also discussed:

Professor Bergen also spoke with Rick Sanchez on NewsRoom about the attack:

Elsewhere... did you know that coal can be used to make gasoline? Ali Velshi spoke with the CEO of a South African company that is doing just that. It's not ready for use in the US yet (imagine the regulatory commissions that would have to pass! imagine the fights from Big Oil!) but it is an interesting future possibility. Although we still need to find a safer way to get the coal out of the ground...

And on Friday, CNN founder Ted Turner was at the NYSE and spoke with Susan Lisovicz about an anti-malaria campaign supported by the United Nations Foundation, "Nothing But Nets," the rising price of food and oil around the world, and ways to conserve our resources:

Last night, the AP ran a story about the next venture of former CNN anchor Aaron Brown:

Ex-CNN anchor Aaron Brown returns to TV on PBS' `Wide Angle'

By LYNN ELBER

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Brown, the former CNN anchor who found cable TV an awkward fit, is joining PBS' "Wide Angle" series and ending his on-air absence of more than two years.

"If I was going to do broadcast journalism again, be a public person again ... then it had to be something different from what I'd done," Brown told The Associated Press. "You can count on one hand how many gigs there are like this."

Anchoring "Wide Angle," a weekly public affairs series with a global focus, offers the chance "to work in an environment where people just think about making good TV and good journalism," Brown said.

"By the end (of an episode), you understand the world you live in and how it's connected to you," he said Saturday.

Brown, 59, who left CNN in November 2005 during a shake-up that gave his time slot to rising star Anderson Cooper, said he was contractually barred from working in TV until last June. He's been teaching at Arizona State University as its first Walter Cronkite Professor of Journalism.

"Wide Angle" begins its seventh season July 1. PBS planned to announce Brown's hiring on Monday.

Brown has distinguished himself as an anchor by avoiding a "booming voice-of-God" approach and instead delivering news as a storyteller, said Stephen Segaller, director of national production at Thirteen/WNET, the New York station that produces "Wide Angle."

Besides his distinctive on-camera demeanor, Brown has "a good sense of what international stories will mean to American audiences and how the stories will play," Segaller said.

Brown contrasted the work he expects to do at PBS with how cable television operated at times during his tenure.

"I don't want to get into the business of indicting cable TV, but some of what went on was just television, not journalism," he said. Expanding on his comments, he said that cable TV is a tough business that can be pushed into focusing on sensational, "tabloidy stories."

"I understand why they do it. It's a very ratings-driven environment," Brown said.

Before joining CNN, Brown worked at ABC as a reporter on programs including "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" and "Nightline" and as anchor of "World News Tonight Saturday" and "World News Now."

His first day at CNN was Sept. 11, 2001, and his heartfelt anchoring from a rooftop in Manhattan immediately thrust him into a major role there. But expectations that he would become the face of the network didn't pan out.

Brown's quirky, cerebral 10 p.m. newscast had a following with fans who enjoyed his commentaries and "The Whip," a quick review of top international stories, but he lost ratings ground to Greta Van Susteren of Fox News Channel.

CNN chose to showcase its hotter personality, Cooper, whose profile had grown in 2005 and peaked during Hurricane Katrina coverage. Brown's time slot went to Cooper and Brown left by what CNN termed mutual agreement.

Reflecting on his time at the channel, Brown said he became "oddly emblematic" of what he termed an "anti-tabloid guy."

"I didn't practice the `high church' of journalism all the time, but I think there was some sense that I was uncomfortable in that other, tabloidy world, and I think viewers knew that and I couldn't pull it off," he said.

Besides serving as anchor of "Wide Angle" and helping prepare episodes for broadcast, Brown plans to do field work on a story, possibly involving Venezuela or the Middle East. Topics to be covered this season include the crisis in the Sudan and the changing role of Japan's military.

Finally... I've already bemoaned the decision to stop devoting one single hour per week to the wars we are currently fighting in order to give us yet another hour of politics. At the same time, we all love Tom Foreman's quirky sense of humor. But can anyone explain to me why the heck Tom was covering celebri-gossip on his show this week? Uh....?

That's it for today. See you next week!

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Debate: Texas Style

CNN is taking their next presidential primary debate to Texas. For those of you keeping count- this is the 9th CNN debate in this election cycle. Here's the details:

CNN today announced that Campbell Brown will anchor the Thursday, Feb. 21, Democratic presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Univision Communications Inc. and the Texas Democratic Party and presented by the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation on behalf of the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the LBJ Library. CNN chief national correspondent John King and award-winning Univision anchor Jorge Ramos will serve as panelists asking questions of the candidates during the debate.

Both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have accepted invitations to the debate. The program will air live from the University of Texas on CNN and on CNN International from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (ET)/7p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (CT) and will air in Spanish at 11:30 p.m. (ET)/10:30 p.m. (CT) on the Univision Network, on Univision.com and on RadioCadena, Univision’s AM radio network. The debate will stream live on CNN.com and will later be available on demand on both Univision.com and CNN.com. It will also re-air on CNN and CNN en Español.

What do you do after introducing the world to a 24 hour cable news station? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently caught up with CNN founder Ted Turner.

Omaha, Neb. —- Managing 2 million acres of ranch land and running a restaurant chain serve as diversions for billionaire Ted Turner.

These days, the 69-year-old founder of CNN spends most of his time trying to solve the world's problems by working with his three foundations to protect the environment, stabilize the world's population and stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

"That's a pretty big agenda, don't you think?" Turner said from a table in his restaurant in Omaha last week.

Turner visited Omaha to rename his 4-year-old restaurant Ted's Nebraska Grill, but Turner discussed a number of topics in an interview. The Omaha restaurant is the only one of the 54 in the chain that is not called Ted's Montana Grill.

Turner said he feels like he has made some progress on the problems that he has invested $1.5 billion of his own fortune in solving, but more could be done.

"The more the press covers these stories, the more people become aware of it, and the more action's taken," Turner said.

Turner said he hopes reporters will ask the presidential candidates more about what they would do to stop the spread of nuclear weapons now that there are fewer candidates.

Turner said he doesn't have any secret plans for the 2 million acres of land he owns in 11 states and Argentina. "I'm running 50,000 bison. I needed the land to expand the bison herd," Turner said. "That's really the reason I bought so much land."

Turner has encouraged prairie dogs to flourish on his land, reintroduced swift foxes and cutthroat trout, and he is working on a plan to help restore the endangered black-footed ferret to the prairie.

His restaurants, which feature bison meat, also reflect Turner's environmental concerns by using biodegradable hand soap, compact fluorescent light bulbs, to-go cups made from cornstarch and other measures.

"I think it's really important to do the right thing if you can afford to do it," Turner said. "And even if you can't afford to do it, it's still probably best to do the right thing if you can figure out a way to do it. That's what we're trying to do.

"We work a little harder to try and be better citizens."

The full article can be found at: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/business/stories/2008/02/12/tedturner0212.html.

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Mystery Journalist

Can you name this CNN journalist?

Tell us whether you recognize these eyes. We'll let you know who it is in Sunday's post.

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Candy Crowley

In February, 2007, Mediabistro.com posted an interview CNN's Senior Political Correspondent, Candy Crowley. Below are a few excerpts from the interview:

Did you always want to be a journalist?

I always wanted to be a writer. But the problem with being a writer is, unless you've written your first book, they don't pay you a whole lot to sit at your house and write. So this fulfilled the need to have a paycheck. And since then I've grown to love journalism.

How'd you get your foot in the door?

My first job was at WASH-FM when it was a MetroMedia station in Washington. I just worked this minimum wage split shift thing. Basic gopher work, calling around to find out what happened the night before.

I went from there to AP, but I had an interim with UPI for about six minutes. You work with the wires when you're a local station. It's easy to get to know those people. So I had accepted a job at UPI, and then I quickly got a job with AP.

Then I went from AP to Mutual Broadcasting. And then I went from Mutual back to AP. And I had children. Then I went from AP to NBC. And then to CNN.

Take me through a typical week, if one exists.

There's really not a typical week, which is the best part of it. I love the travel. I love that the '08 election has started so early, because it gets me out and gets me going.

In an election year, there's a lot of being away from home. This is sort of an election year, even though this isn't THE election year. So there's travel several times a month. So in that week, it's airports – Cleveland, Des Moines, Columbus, Nashua.

When I'm home for the week, sometimes there are things coming up that I know will be a story, so there are things I'll work on. Like ahead of the State of the Union –- what's the political dynamic as Bush gives his speech?

Other times the story will come to you – someone will literally run into your office and say something like 'John Kerry's not running in '08.'

And then you try to pick up a little news. You make as many phone calls as you can in the morning to pick up what's out there and generate a little news.

Who do you look up to?

One of my all-time favorites is Tom Brokaw. I think he is terrific. Peter Jennings, same thing. I just thought they were consummate reporters and anchors. In terms of reporters, Lord, I can't start, because there are a lot of them out there that are really good, that are poets in their own light, and are really good reporters.

And you're in that category now, too.

I've never tried to stand out or make a name for myself. I always just wanted to do the story. If you do stand out and make a name for yourself, that's great. But I don't know anybody – well, yeah, I do – most people I know are in this because they love to find things out. They love to report, they love to tell things, they love to relay things to people. I'm consistently startled when people come up to me.

Still?

Yeah, I still am. It's just me walking through the airport. I don't think 'Wow, this is Candy Crowley walking through the airport.' It's hard to see yourself as anything other than the mom or the friend, because that's who you really are.

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Monday, November 19th is the birthday of two CNN legends, founder, Ted Turner, and Larry King.

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Mystery Journalist

This week's Mystery Journalist was Newsroom anchor, Heidi Collins.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviews Ted Turner at the Clinton Global Initiative meetings in Manhattan

Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviewed Ted Turner this morning at Bill Clinton's Global Initiative meetings in Manhattan. Here are the highlights from the transcript:

On what motivated Ted Turner to donate $1 billion to establish the United Nations Foundation

GUPTA: Nearly 10 years ago, you decided to give away $1 billion. This whole spirit of philanthropy, what motivated you to give at that time?

TURNER: Well a lot of it actually came from starting CNN, learning about all of the problems that there were in the world, because as you know, we emphasized international news, so while we were doing it, I learned about a lot that was going on overseas and particularly the thing that triggered it is the United States was not paying its dues to the U.N. at that time and we were a couple of years in the rear, so and about $1 billion and the U.N. couldn't pay its bills. And so I was trying to figure, well I said I have $1 billion. I'll just step up and see if I can fill the gap for a while.

On the issues facing the world that Ted Turner sees as most pressing for our times

TURNER: Well the two things that I'm most concerned about are the nuclear arsenals and the fact that they are still on hair-trigger alert, the Russian and American arsenals and if something were to go wrong or a mistake and they get accidentally launched, it's the end of the world in an afternoon. I think that's probably the greatest danger that we face.

And the second one is probably global warming. So those are the two that I'm most concerned about, but I'm concerned about AIDS and measles and malaria, too. The U.N. Foundation is -- takes a holistic view and tries to help out at least some in every area. We still got to finish eradicating polio, too. So we don't let it come out of the bottle again.

GUPTA: It's amazing how many countries still have people who get polio every year.

TURNER: That's right, three or four. But we're 98 percent of the way there. But there's a lot of donor fatigue and it's not as sexy right now as HIV-AIDS or measles or malaria. But the very fact that we're close to eradicating we ought to go ahead and finish doing the job.


Here is the full interview from American Morning.



Thank you to CNN for the info and Cyn for the video. ~Sheryn