Thursday, June 02, 2005
Turner Takes Jab at Levin
Source: AJC Another here article about Ted Turner. Turner explains how CNN got into Baghdad and Turner took a jab at AOL-TW CEO Jerry Levin at Wednesday's World Conference activities. Below is a portion of the article:
Why it was partly thanks to the World Report conferences that CNN really arrived in 1991, Turner said, when it
became the only network to broadcast live from Baghdad the night the first Gulf War began.
"The Iraqis used to come to our [World Report] meetings here in Atlanta," said Turner, crediting those relationships and CNN's advanced technology with making all the difference. "We had the position where we were liked over there and also known as being fair. You know, by being nice to someone, something worked out real well."
Then, Turner being Turner, he couldn't resist kicking a little dirt on that nice moral to his own story.
"On the other hand, being nice to [AOL Time Warner CEO] Jerry Levin didn't," Turner said, cackling. (Levin moved Turner aside in the corporate structure after the AOL Time Warner merger.) "I'd rather put myself in the Iraqis' hands than in some Americans.' "
Even his own baby didn't escape entirely unscathed. Although Turner said CNN had lived up to his early vision, he also said he would like to see more international and environmental coverage.
# posted by ATN @ 1:22 AM 
