Ted Turner and Memories of CNN
Ted Turner has passed away at the age of 87, and no matter what you thought of him, he changed everything. Turner was known for many things including owning the Atlanta Braves, creating the Goodwill Games, and for marrying Jane Fonda.
But his biggest accomplishment was CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network, often called the Chicken Noodle Network.
It was during the Gulf War in Iraq in 1991 that CNN became a big deal. It was able to bring that war into American’s living rooms, and constantly be the first source of breaking news, a role that had once belonged to radio.
CNN’s importance cannot be overstated. Its 24-hour coverage made the legacy networks’ evening newscasts less important, and led to the creation of competitors such as MSNBC and FOX News.
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The Cable News Network launched at 4:00 p.m. Central Time on June 1, 1980.
And things have never been the same.
Cable news seems so dominant now, that younger people may have no concept of what broadcast and print journalism was like in the days prior. Remember, there were three legacy broadcast networks, each of which had a morning show that featured news and chat, and an evening newscast that ran at 5:30 P.M. in the Central zone.
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The network anchors of that day were major stars and household names: John Charles Daly, also known as the host of CBS’ prime-time game show “What’s My Line,” anchored on ABC, followed by John Cochran and Peter Jennings. NBC ran “The Camel News Caravan” with John Cameron Swayze, later replaced by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. On CBS, Douglas Edwards was the early anchor, replaced by Walker Cronkite, known as “the most trusted man in America.”
The three networks, were then, as now dominated by entertainment programming. Other than huge stories such as the assassination of President Kennedy or the moon landings, viewers would have to wait for the evening news to find out what happened. Of course, they could usually get the breaking stories on radio, and millions did. Radio was into ENG long before it became a thing on television. ENG is “Electronic News Gathering,” being a way to get big stories on the air instantly. Remote TV broadcasts were clunky in the early days, but all a radio reporter had to do was find a phone booth and be instantly put on the air.
As TV news went from film that had to be developed to mini-cams, and remote trucks that could microwave a report to the network or the local station, opportunities were developing. Ted Turner saw those opportunities before any of the network suits did. CNN became the go-to place for “breaking news,” a graphic it uses over and over to this day.
Video: Ted Turner with David Letterman discussing Ted’s birthday, Superstation WTBS, and world events.
The CNN we knew and loved.
At first, CNN was the only cable news network and it was not the left-wing ideological outfit of today. It’s claim to fame was breaking stories as they happened. No waiting; no film to develop. Simply turn on CNN, and through satellite technology, the network could be live from anywhere in the world.
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CNN came into its own with coverage of the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq and made a star out of a Canadian reporter, Arthur Kent, who became known as the “Scud Stud” for live reporting from
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, while Iraqi Scud missiles were exploding all around him. I’ll never forget Johnny Carson on the tonight show, commenting about watching war developments on CNN (instead of on NBC where he worked), and humorously asking: “what is a Wolf Blitzer?”
I jotted down a brief list of anchors and hosts from CNN who became major stars.
FOX News did not sign on until October 7, 1996, sixteen years after CNN’s debut. That’s more than a decade and a half that CNN ruled cable news. Today, the “face” of CNN is Anderson Cooper, who anchors in prime time, but CNN had had other “faces” that were even bigger in their day. How many do you remember?
Start with Lois Hart and David Walker, a husband-and-wife team who anchored the very first CNN newscast in 1980. Both are still living and retired as of this writing.
Video: CNN’s first broadcast.
One major name that has been largely forgotten is that of Linden Soles, another Canadian whose face became universally recognized in America – so much so, that he was often seen in movies as a face reading news on a TV screen. Soles famously reported the death of Princess Diana before being fired in a management shakeup.
Aaron Brown was the face of CNN for a while, coming over from ABC News. At CNN, he covered the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Video: CNN’s Aaron Brown – a tribute.
Bernard Shaw was an early CNN face from the network’s beginning until his retirement in 2001. Shaw created a major incident by asking a simple question to left-wing presidential candidate Michael Dukakis at a debate with George H. W. Bush in 1988. Dukakis was known as a big opponent of the death penalty, and Shaw asked him whether he would support an irrevocable death penalty in the event that some man raped and murdered his wife Kitty. Dukakis answered from a legal standpoint and said he would not. Controversy swirled around the question.
Video: CNN’s Bernard Shaw asks Michael Dukakis about the death penalty in 1988 Presidential Debate
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In what seems almost quaint by today’s standards, CNN brought a radio talk show to prime time cable. Hosted by Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, known professionally as Larry King, the show featured interviews with celebrity and political guests and even took phone calls – just as Larry had done on the radio. Larry was the “king” of talk radio in a day when such fare was pretty much limited to late-night or overnight programming.
King had conducted his overnight radio show since 1978 on the Mutual Broadcasting System replacing Herb Jepko and later Long John Nebel. The show created buzz for King and and it was brought to CNN in 1985 as “Larry King Live.” The popularity of King’s show made it fertile ground for making big announcements, and in 1992, billionaire Ross Perot announced his presidential run there. The following year, King scored again with a debate between Perot and Al Gore, which became CNN’s most watched segment until 2015.
Video: Ross Perot’s first appearance on Larry King Live
And we can’t forget the days when CNN paired a conservative, often Pat Buchanan or Robert Novak, against a liberal, such as Tom Braden or Michael Kinsley, for face-to-face debate on “Crossfire.” That was must-see TV for me.
Video: Classic Crossfire with Braden and Buchanan.
Other names to remember.
CNN either introduced or made famous many people that may have been largely forgotten or are still household names. They include (in no particular order): Christiane Amanpour, Lou Dobbs, Jeffrey Toobin, Greta Van Susteren, Candy Crowley, Evans & Novack, Peter Arnett, and, of course Wolf Blitzer, longtime host of “The Situation Room.”
Both Glenn Beck and Tucker Carlson also appeared on CNN. Greta, to my knowledge, is the only cable star to have her own show on four major networks including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and Newsmax.
Ted Turner’s big idea changed how we think about news and how we consume it.
Before CNN, millions gathered around the TV set in the evening to see what Chet or David or Walter had to say. We rarely considered the idea that the TV anchors and reporters might have a political agenda. We knew their names and their faces, and they came into our homes and we trusted them. For years, we trusted CNN. Today, we often pick networks that have an ideological slant, and we’ve noted that CNN’s is currently tilted to the left. And we have our phones, and the younger generations gets news from social media.
In looking back, CNN was an idea built around the possibilities being opened up by new technologies in ENG and satellite transmission that made worldwide coverage of breaking news possible. In today’s world, cable news is starting to look outmoded as streaming becomes the new thing, and breaking news is delivered by our smart phones. Technology will advance, and the way we get our news not remain the same as it is now.
My hope is that fact-based journalism that is worthy of our trust will always be available.
Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter. Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us. Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley.
Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site. Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.
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