By: Ganiyu Olayinka
At the age of 87, Ted Turner, the vocal businessman who revolutionized television news by founding CNN in 1980, passed away. Lewy body dementia, a gradual degenerative illness he had been dealing with for a number of years, was identified by the network as the cause of his death.
Turner, who was born in Cincinnati in 1938, took over his family’s faltering advertising company when his father committed suicide. He was dismissed from Brown University prior to graduation. In 1970, he made his television debut by buying a failing Atlanta station. Over the next ten years, he turned it into the Turner Broadcasting System, which eventually served as the basis for CNN.
.The first American broadcaster to transmit news continuously was Cable News Network. Its historic coverage of events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, the crackdown in Tiananmen Square, and the Gulf War of 1990–1991 during which CNN maintained reporters in Baghdad during the US bombing campaign earned it a reputation on a worldwide scale.
The success of CNN’s strategy led to the establishment of competing media, such as MSNBC and Fox News, which was started by Rupert Murdoch. Beyond journalism, Turner’s own empire grew to include TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, and other companies.
“Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand,” declared Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN.”
Turner was well-known outside of television as a sports team owner, philanthropist, and enthusiastic yachtsman. According to Forbes, he is worth $2.8 billion.
Tags: #CableNews #CNN #TedTurner