Ted Turner called Fox an arm of the Bush administration and indirectly compared the Fox News Network's popularity to Adolph Hitler's popular election to run Germany before WWII. Turner made those fiery comments in his first address at NATPE since he was ousted from Time Warner five years ago. The 66-year-old billionaire who leveraged a television station in Atlanta into a media empire, made the comment before a standing-room-only crowd at NATPE's opening session Tuesday. His no-nonsense, humorous approach during the one-hour Q&A generated frequent loud applause and laughter.
Among the highlights:
On Fox News: While Fox may be the largest news network, it's not the best, Turner said. He followed up by pointing out that Adolph Hitler got the most votes when he was elected to run Germany prior to WWII. He said the network is the propaganda tool for the Bush Administration. | Nothing about CNN being the propaganda tool of the Democratic Party? |
"There's nothing wrong with that. It's certainly legal. But it does pose problems for our democracy. Particularly when the news is dumbed down," leaving voters without critical information on politics and world events and overloaded with fluff," he said. | So, that's why you hired Bobby Batista to be the female anchor of CNN back in the day, her really big....brains? |
On TV news in general: "We need to be very well informed. We need to know what's going on in the world. "a little less Hollywood news and a little more hard news would probably be good for our society." | A little more truth in the hard news would help as well. |
On media consolidation:"The consolidation has made it almost impossible for an independent. It's virtually impossible to start a cable network." Broadcasters and programmers "don't want more independent voices out there. They own everything. That's why I went into the restaurant business. Either that or I'd work for a salary for one of the big jerks. | No, it's because Time lured you to merge networks with them and then didn't even leave cab fare on the dresser. |
The war in Iraq: "We've spent 200 billion destroying Iraq. Now we've got to spend 200 billion to rebuild it, if they'll let us -- and all to find a nut in a fox hole -- one guy," Turner said. "He posed no threat to any of his neighbors, particularly with us there with overwhelming military superiority." --"it is obscene and stupid" | Still following CNN policy to avoid saying bad things about Sammy to maintain access, eh, Ted? We haven't forgotten that. |
Why selling his company to Time Warner turned out to be a huge mistake: At the time he agreed to sell his company, "it was from a business standpoint the right thing to do." He owned 9 percent of the merged company, which "which got me some real serious respect." But after the company acquired AOL, Turner's stake in the new company was diluted to 3 percent. "Then I got the pink slip"
| The slip and a pair of panties over your head |
Why it wasn't that huge a mistake: "I have a responsibility not to be too critical of my old company. It is a good company and I had a lot of experiences there. A lot of time things that are painful at the time they occurred turn out to be for the best." | Translation: I still own stock and I don't want it going down |
Ted Turner for President? "I'm too old and too burned out to take on that responsibility. I thought about it when I was younger. I don't know if I could have gotten elected or not. It would have been a lot of fun to do when I had higher energy levels." | It would be a lot of fun, for us. |
What he'll put on his tombstone: "I have nothing more to say." | Can we speed that day up, please? |
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