After 10 years of agonizing and reflecting over his incredible life, Tom Johnson has written his autobiography. Titled “Driven: A Life in Public Service and Journalism from LBJ to CNN,” the book details the ups and downs of his 84 years. “Driven” covers Johnson’s life — as a cub reporter for the Macon Telegraph, as […]
Tag: ted turner
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Changing Atlanta’s Broadcast History
A clever, under the table move that bent the rules without breaking them left a mark on Atlanta’s broadcast history. This episode of Atlanta history begins in the 1970s – nearly a thousand miles from the City of Atlanta. A struggling college radio station. A government rule that couldn’t be broken. And a wealthy businessman […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
They tried everything…including this
When the Braves Couldn’t Win on the Field, One Man Made Sure They Won in the Stands It’s a matter of Atlanta history that the Atlanta Braves of the 1970s weren’t known for championships—but their promotions were legendary. From ostrich races to on-the-field cash grabs, the Braves’ front office turned the ballpark into a spectacle, […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Ted Turner’s dedication to world peace and saving the earth as critical now as ever
Ted Turner is turning 86 on Nov. 19, and a party was held at the Atlanta History Center exactly one week before his big day. On a big video screen in the auditorium, Turner was beamed in from his downtown Atlanta residence flanked by his daughters, Laura Turner Seydel and Jennie Turner Garlington, along with […]
Posted inColumns
‘Conserving America’s Wildlands’: Rhett Turner’s ode to his father
Rhett Turner, one of Ted Turner’s five children, has captured the spirit of his father in a recently published book – “Conserving America’s Wildlands: The Vision of Ted Turner.”
Posted inColumns
Remembering the launch of CNN on its 40th anniversary
By Guest Columnist MARK ALDREN, a member of the team that launched CNN and past president/board member, Atlanta Press Club
Skeptics, and there were plenty of them at the time, called it the “Chicken Noodle Network.” But 40 years ago, Atlanta was the birthplace of a revolution in news reporting. On June 1st, 1980, Ted Turner launched the Cable News Network, CNN. It was a bold experiment no one had dared try before – 24- hour news, seven days a week, beamed skyward to orbiting satellites.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Column: Another change at Community Foundation; Captain Planet rocks
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on November 22, 2019
Another key leader of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta will be leaving the organization.
Posted inMaria's Metro
WarnerMedia’s honor of Ted Turner: ‘It’s not enough’
Plain and simple. Ted Turner deserves more.
On Dec. 6, WarnerMedia brought its top brass to Atlanta to dedicate the media company’s Techwood campus to Ted Turner. They also unveiled a mural and a plaque describing Turner as “the original maverick pioneer in the media industry” and as a “champion of the environment.”
Posted inLatest News
WarnerMedia renames Techwood in Ted Turner’s honor: ‘Never have I lived through something like this’
WarnerMedia on Friday honored media pioneer Ted Turner by renaming the company’s Techwood campus in his honor.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
The world according to Ted
A subdued Ted Turner sat in his office on a cloudy and drizzly Election Day to talk about his place in life on the eve of turning 80 years old on Nov. 19.
An intimate birthday celebration in Turner’s honor will be held Nov. 17 for family, close friends and colleagues from around the country to toast a man who is a legend in his own time.
Posted inColumns
Happy birthday Ted Turner – one of our living legends
In life, we meet a few special people who stand out above the rest.
For me, one of those special people is Ted Turner – someone who has changed our nation’s media landscape and someone who has done all he could to make the world a better place.
Posted inColumns
Ted Turner honored by the rarefied founders of the America’s Cup
By David Pendered
Ted Turner is now formally honored by the blue-blazer crowd of the yachting world. The New York Yacht Club marked the 40th anniversary of Turner’s victory in the America’s Cup, in 1977, by awarding Turner the highest individual honor the club bestows.
This is a significant bow from a club with an autocratic reputation, one that took its time in even extending a membership offer to Turner. Evidently, back in the day, the club’s leadership had determined that Turner wasn’t a good fit in a private club founded in 1844 by a scion of one of the nation’s founders and led since by a host of mostly Northern bluebloods.
Posted inColumns
Finding hope in people who believe in public spaces and planet Earth
After a brutal presidential campaign and election season, it has been a struggle to envision a brighter future for our nation and our world.
My emotions have vacillated from despair about the future of our planet to concern about the future of our cities to empathy for the millions of people seeking a better life – hoping to find comfort and acceptance in America.
With that backdrop, I attended two distinctly different events last week that helped give me hope for the future.
Posted inMaria Saporta, WABE
Commentary: Ted Turner is a cornerstone of UN philanthropy
When Atlanta media mogul Ted Turner gave $1 billion in 1997 to establish the U.N. Foundation, it broke the mold of major philanthropic contributions.
Nearly 20 years later – Turner received the Global Philanthropist Award from UNICEF’s Southeast region at its Children First event on March 30.
