Reply #19: This Could Start A Ripple...

[KharmaTrain]

I find Ted's timing interesting.

First, I doubt Turner, at 66, would be interested in getting back into the meatgrinder that was running a media empire like he had. It cost him a couple marriages and then when the AOL/TW stock tanked, he took a major hit.

That doesn't mean what he said today doesn't mean something. First, it was at the major News Director's meeting...a place where one would espect an Administration mouthpiece or a Limbaugh (he was invited to speak last year). The fact Ted was invited and took up the chance shows a bit of restlessness somewhere in the News establishment. He didn't invite himself, someone did.

I'm sure Turner is as pained at what he sees in the decrease of quality and integrity of his former network. CNNservative's actual news coverage is far less today replace with personality/opinion shows (Zahn, King, Blitzer). Gone are the Bernie Shaws and Peter Arnett's...replaced by embeds fed what they're told by the Pentagon and reporters more worried about their access and resumes than questioning this regime.

Someone in another post aptly described Faux's popularity as the fact they're so "out there" and partisan, they attract not just Conservatives but also liberals who want to see how over they top they go. Say what you will about Faux, but they are always pushing the edge and more interesting to watch than Miles Mindbender play with space toys.

The time is rapidly apporaching for either CNNservative, MSGOP or even ABC News Now to make a move. Progressive radio ratings...which are still less than a year old and incomplete for any real solid tracking, but they show very positive trends, have to be on the radar at these networks. So, must the popularity of Jon Stewart...and the appeal he and his approach to news is having on the coveted 18-49s CNN long since lost (a great post in the media area on this).

Turner's remarks might be the opening salvo on a schism in the "mainstream" media where a "liberal" network could evolve out of one of the existing cable networks. Just a gut feeling. Either way, Turner's speech is well worth a close read. And remember, the ears he was going after were some of the most influential broadcast editors and newspeople in the country. He hit them where many of us wish we could. Let's hope he keeps talking and others join him.