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Ted Turner, a media mogul who introduced the world to the groundbreaking 24/7 news cycle, has passed away at 87.
Turner inspired admiration for his vision and set a path for other news channels to follow.
Turner was an influential visionary and mogul who, in 1980, created CNN and revolutionized news delivery. Ted Turner has left behind a lasting legacy.
At the start of the 1991 Gulf War, when CNN’s Bernard Shaw asked his colleague Peter Arnett to describe “to our viewers what we are seeing,”
Arnet responded, “The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated.”
Peter Arnet might as well have been describing the presence of CNN on the daily news cycle — illuminated.
Indeed, CNN had become a beacon of news gathering and the envy of the other dominant news stations, CBS, ABC, and NBC.
CNN’s new news delivery style was innovative and bold, setting a new standard in television journalism.
Ted Turner was the visionary who founded Turner Broadcasting System (TBS). TBS was the umbrella company for TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies.
On Wednesday, CNN reported that media mogul and visionary Ted Turner died surrounded by members of his family.
Turner had five children, fourteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
About eight years ago, Turner revealed that he had Lewy Body Dementia. The neurological disorder causes dementia and muscle failure. In early 2025, the media mogul was reportedly in a rehab center after a bout of pneumonia.
Turner’s 24/7 news initiative spawned hybrids such as Fox News and MSNBC and may even have given rise to YouTube and other social media platforms.
Even after so-called experts warned Turner that a twenty-four-hour news channel wouldn’t work, he forged ahead and proved them wrong.
Of course, when Ted Turner launched CNN, he did not have to deal with the gatekeepers that block independent media today.
Even President Trump, who always makes clear that CNN has become a shadow of what it used to be, spoke graciously about Ted Turner upon learning of his passing.
In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump called the CNN founder “one of the Greats of All Time” and “a friend of mine” who was “always willing to fight for a good cause.”
“Think globally, act locally.”
It is crucial to be forward-thinking but not a forward person. “Be kind to everyone you meet because each carries his heavy burden…” Plato.
Embrace the three Constants: change, justice, and rightness.
The thought police are busy at work trying to suppress free speech. If allowed their march to madness, they will arrest your very thoughts.
“Free speech, but not free reach.” — Social media titans.
Free speech is thy Lord.
