Editing Ted Turner (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Ted Turner.jpg|thumb|Turner in 1999]]
[[File:LBJ Foundation DIG13755-4096 (18716136865).jpg|thumb|The LBJ Foundation honors entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner with the 2015 Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award at the [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum|LBJ Presidential Library]]]]

Turner has been regarded as one of the entrepreneurs who transformed the cable industry and being referred to as "the [[Alexander the Great]] of broadcasting" by [[Slate (magazine)|Slate magazine]]:<ref name="slate.com">{{cite journal |url=https://slate.com/technology/2010/11/ted-turner-the-alexander-the-great-of-television.html|title=Ted Turner, the Alexander the Great of Television|journal=Slate |date=November 10, 2010|access-date=February 21, 2021 |last1=Wu |first1=Tim }}</ref>

<blockquote>While Turner has been described as a "valiant liberator" and cast the networks as oppressive scoundrels, in content his programming fell short of inspiring. His network was built on sitcom reruns, old movies, cartoons, and Atlanta Braves games. He found an audience for classics of a bygone time, along with slightly down-market content like professional wrestling. Nonetheless, he would find glorious terms even for retreads and junk, claiming to be pulling America back to television's golden age: "I want to get it back to the principles" he once said, "that made us good." Nostalgic, Manichean, and boot-strappy: like programmer, like programming<ref name="slate.com"/></blockquote>

<blockquote>The cable industry boomed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as nearly a dozen cable networks launched based on the Turner model. They include much of what we now consider the staples of cable TV, including [[ESPN]], [[MTV]], [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]], [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]], [[BET]], the [[Discovery Channel]], and the [[The Weather Channel|Weather Channel]]. Those are the better-known channels only by virtue of having survived; others, such as ARTS, CBS Cable, and the Satellite News Channel, folded or were acquired by other companies<ref name="slate.com"/></blockquote>

Bob Hope, who is co-owner and president of Hope-Beckham, an independent agency based in Atlanta that previously worked for Turner in his networks, has described that "Ted Turner was special. His vision and his determination and his unwillingness to quit were infectious. He was willing to start small and had the persistence and patience to make his ideas grow".<ref name="bizjournals.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2019/03/06/viewpoint-lets-never-forget-the-legacy-of-ted.html|title=Viewpoint: Let's never forget the legacy of Ted Turner|date=March 6, 2019|access-date=February 21, 2021}}</ref> Hope also further reiterated that "In some ways, he was outrageous, but in most ways he was remarkable. He had great passion for doing what was right for the world. He stated his dream of using communication to bring peace, to tell both sides of any story, that 'one man's terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.' If he could get people to understand each other, there would be no wars. His vision was bold and infectious. His Goodwill Games, his creation of the [[UN Foundation]], and his approach to news on the original CNN were passions for peace".<ref name="bizjournals.com"/>

Professional wrestling promoter and former Senior Vice President of [[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]] second in charge after Turner, [[Eric Bischoff]] praised Turner claiming "He was an inspirational leader, he was a risk taker, he appreciated people who took risks, he was not afraid of failure while most people are. Ted was not afraid to fail, he was more afraid of not trying and not conquering that next horizon.”<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/09/eric-bischoff-recalls-vince-mcmahon-letters-trying-to-674695/ |title=Eric Bischoff Recalls Vince McMahon's Letters 'Trying to Embarrass' Ted Turner|date=September 12, 2020|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

On June 24, 1999, [[Vince McMahon]] stated on ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'': "All I'll say about Ted is he's a son-of-a-bitch, other than that, he's probably not a bad guy, but I don't like him at all".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/1999/06/28/mats-entertainment-wrestling-foes-mcmahon-hogan-square-off-in-talk-show-tussle/ |title=MATS ENTERTAINMENT! WRESTLING FOES MCMAHON, HOGAN SQUARE OFF IN TALK-SHOW TUSSLE |date=June 28, 1999|access-date=August 26, 2021}}</ref> Later in 2021, when asked about the upstart [[All Elite Wrestling|AEW]] in comparison to Turner's WCW, McMahon dismissed AEW, stating that "it certainly is not a situation where 'rising tides' because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner's assets as well".<ref name="r134">{{Cite web |last=Thakur |first=Sanjay |date=2021-07-30 |title=Vince McMahon Says He Does Not See AEW As The Same Level Of Competition As WCW |url=https://prowrestlingnewshub.com/aew-news/vince-mcmahon-says-he-does-not-see-aew-as-the-same-level-of-competition-as-wcw/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Pro Wrestling News Hub}}</ref>

In 2010 Turner was named a Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the [[Georgia Historical Society]], in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia, to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony from 1732 to 1752.