NCS founder Ted Turner remodeled journalism endlessly, however the 24/7 cable information mannequin he pioneered additionally helped gasoline right now’s polarized and exhausting media tradition.
Remembering Ted Turner: A Legacy in Media, Sports, and Philanthropy
The media mogul created NCS, the world’s first 24-hour information channel. He was additionally a well known sportsman and philanthropist.
There’s no query: Ted Turner was an icon who essentially reshaped how Americans eat information.
His passing, announced by Turner Enterprises on May 6, presents the media business and information customers alike an opportunity to mourn, mirror on his life and rethink the business he constructed – together with its affect on the world, for higher and for worse.
Turner’s life is that of a storied legend. He was as soon as married to film star Jane Fonda, owned the Atlanta Braves and have become the second-largest particular person landowner in North America. He leaves behind 5 youngsters, 14 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and a $2.5 billion fortune. If Turner wasn’t the epitome of a free-market capitalist, it’s arduous to think about who was.
But as a journalist, his most consequential choice as a businessman and entrepreneur was launching Cable News Network, or NCS, in 1980 – a singular concept that completely remodeled information, audiences and media consumption.
Without NCS, there is no Fox News
It’s arduous to overstate the impression a 24-hour information community has had on how America, and the world, consumes info.
“He was and always will be the presiding spirit of NCS. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand,” Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of NCS Worldwide, said in a statement.
One large who stood on Turner’s shoulders, if solely to compete with and maybe finally surpass him, was Rupert Murdoch, who launched Fox News Channel in 1996. Turner was extensively seen as extra politically liberal; Murdoch, extra conservative. Their rivalry was open and fierce. Turner once said that he was “looking forward to squishing Rupert like a bug.”
No doubt, that rivalry helped drive Murdoch to Fox News’ huge success. According to Fox News, it has been America’s top-rated cable information community for 24 consecutive years. About 4 in 10 Americans get their information from Fox, and it consistently tops its opponents.
In a May 6 assertion, Murdoch honored Turner as a “great American,” saying, “Ted Turner’s vision for 24-hour cable news transformed the media industry and gave viewers everywhere a front seat to witness history unfold.”
There possible can be no Fox News with out Ted Turner. Conservatives, Fox’s core audience, have Murdoch – and maybe his rivalry with Turner – to thank for that. NCS and comparable 24-hour cable information networks at the moment are ubiquitous in airports, motels, eating places and houses. But the mannequin Turner pioneered, as soon as seen as groundbreaking and sensible, has additionally fueled an infinite cycle of controversy, battle and negativity.
24/7 information is a double-edged sword
NCS created a information mannequin that numerous cable networks later copied with huge success. Journalists, commentators, investigative reporters and even right now’s digital media creators all function in an ecosystem Turner helped construct by essentially altering how customers digest information.
But it’s additionally potential to admire Turner as an innovator whereas lamenting what his mannequin has turn out to be.
The relentless demand for 24/7 content material helped create media retailers that more and more lean into partisanship. Fox News is one outstanding instance, however hardly the one one. Even Turner himself expressed concern over NCS’s evolution.
In a 2018 interview, Turner mentioned NCS targeted “too much” on politics and may pursue “a more balanced agenda.”
That’s not all. I’m a information junkie, and I’m grateful to work in an business I genuinely get pleasure from. But on the danger of biting the hand that feeds me, nonstop information consumption merely isn’t wholesome for most Americans.
A 2022 study by the American Psychological Association discovered psychologists have been seeing rising ranges of news-related stress. Media overload can take an actual toll on psychological well being. According to a 2024 AP/NORC poll, 65% of adults throughout get together strains say they really feel the necessity to restrict their consumption of political and authorities information.
Data additionally suggests that negativity drives on-line information consumption, and that constant exposure to dangerous information can set off anxiousness and stress. I’ve even puzzled whether or not the rise of social media – now used nearly consistently by some generations – would exist and not using a tv information mannequin that got here earlier than it.
As the 2020 documentary “The Social Dilemma” explored, social media was initially designed to foster connection and self-expression; its downsides have been unseen, unknown or appeared inconsequential in contrast with its promise.
The identical might be mentioned of 24/7 cable information. Americans deserve entry to a free press; it’s a elementary proper. But like many highly effective improvements, NCS got here with trade-offs.
Turner will rightly be remembered as a media titan who remodeled journalism endlessly. But I hope his legacy additionally spurs continued reflection on how the nonstop information cycle he pioneered continues to form our consideration, feelings and understanding of the world.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas along with her 4 youngsters. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.