Editing Ted Turner (section)

=== CNN ===
[[File:Ted Turner autographing, RIT NandE Vol13Num31 1981 Oct8 Complete.jpg|thumb|Turner in 1981]]
In 1978, he contacted media executive [[Reese Schonfeld]] with his plans to launch a 24-hour news channel (Schonfeld had previously approached Turner with the same proposition in 1977 but was rebuffed).<ref name=Barkin>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIJ80AkyQdsC&q=kellner&pg=PA1|first=Steve M.|last=Barkin|title=American Television News: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date= 2016|isbn=9781315290911}}</ref> Schonfeld responded that it could be done with a staff of 300 if they used an all electronic newsroom and satellites for all transmissions.<ref name=Barkin /> It would require an initial investment of $15 million–$20 million and several million dollars per month to operate.<ref name=Barkin />

In 1979, Turner sold his North Carolina station, [[South Carolina Educational Television|WRET]], to fund the transaction and established its headquarters in lower-cost, non-union [[Atlanta]].<ref name=Barkin /> Schonfeld was appointed first president and chief executive of the then-named [[Cable News Network]] (CNN).<ref name=Barkin /> CNN hired Jim Kitchell, former general manager of news at [[NBC]] as vice president of production and operations; [[Sam Zelman]] as vice president of news and executive producer; [[Bill MacPhail]] as head of sports, Ted Kavanau as director of personnel, and [[Burt Reinhardt]] as vice president of the network.<ref name=Barkin /> In 1982, Schonfeld was succeeded as CEO by Turner after a dispute over Schonfeld's firing of [[Sandi Freeman]]; and was succeeded as president by CNN's executive vice president, [[Burt Reinhardt]].<ref name=wp>{{cite news |first=Lauren|last=Wiseman|title=Burt Reinhardt dies at 91: Newsman helped launch CNN |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/burt-reinhardt-dies-at-91-newsman-helped-launch-cnn/2011/04/14/AFMd9mkG_story.html |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=May 10, 2011 |access-date=May 19, 2011}}</ref>

==== Turner Doomsday Video ====
{{Main|Turner Doomsday Video}}
Turner famously stated before CNN debuted: "We won't be signing off until the world ends. We'll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event... we'll play the National Anthem only one time, on the 1st of June [the network's debut on June 1, 1980], and when the end of the world comes, we'll play '[[Nearer, My God, to Thee]]' before we sign off." Reportedly, Turner plans to make good on that promise. He commissioned a video recording of a military marching band playing the hymn. Turner has sometimes played the tape for reporters, noting the reason he made it. In 2015, the video was found in CNN's database and leaked. The video was tagged in the database as "[Hold for release] till end of world confirmed".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/cnn-s-doomsday-video-leaks-to-the-internet-1798275220|title=CNN's doomsday video leaks to the Internet|website=News|date=January 5, 2015|language=en-us|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215184548/https://news.avclub.com/cnn-s-doomsday-video-leaks-to-the-internet-1798275220|url-status=live}}</ref>