Ted Turner, CNN founder and media mogul, dies at 87

Ted Turner, the media mogul who founded CNN and built Turner Broadcasting System, died Wednesday at age 87, CNN reported, citing a release from Turner Enterprises.

The death closes the book on a figure who changed television news by launching a 24-hour cable network, and who later watched as corporate deals and shifting newsroom culture transformed the “baby” he once controlled.

Turner’s passing also triggered a rare moment of agreement across political lines: praise for his ambition and impact, paired with blunt judgments about what CNN became after he lost control.

A death announcement, and a political reaction

The New York Post’s report on Turner’s death noted that President Trump confirmed the news in a Truth Social post Wednesday morning and called Turner “one of the Greats of All Time,” “a friend of mine,” and “always willing to fight for a good cause.”

Trump also used the moment to argue that CNN’s credibility collapsed after Turner sold the network and control shifted to new ownership.

In the Truth Social post, Trump said: “He [Turner] founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it.”

Trump added: “It became woke, and everything that he is not all about. Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory,”

CNN’s current leadership praises Turner’s drive

On the corporate side, CNN Worldwide chairman and CEO Mark Thompson described Turner as a leader who took risks and trusted his own instincts, the Just The News account reported, quoting Thompson’s statement.

Thompson said Turner was “intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement.” Thompson also called Turner “the presiding spirit of CNN” and “the giant on whose shoulders we stand.”

Those tributes tell you something important: even CNN’s current leadership doesn’t pretend the brand exists without Turner’s personal imprint and boldness, traits in short supply in an industry that too often hides behind talking points.

What Turner built, and what he later regretted

Turner founded the Cable News Network on June 1, 1980, in Atlanta, at a converted Jewish country club, and CNN later became known for major live coverage moments, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and events at Tiananmen Square.

In 1991, CNN proved its reach during the Persian Gulf War when it became the sole U.S. network to broadcast a live, unedited feed from Baghdad.

But Turner’s biggest business turning point came in 1996, when he was eventually forced to sell CNN and Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner for roughly $7.34 billion. Turner later described the sale as the “worst day of my life.”

Then came the next layer of corporate churn: Time Warner sold itself to AOL in 2000. Turner later called that deal “one of the biggest disasters that have occurred to our country.”

Media power, politics, and the “woke” question

No serious reader needs a lecture on how modern cable news shapes politics. The deeper question is whether America is better served when newsrooms chase ideology instead of facts, and brand loyalty instead of fairness.

Trump’s “woke” critique of CNN, delivered in the middle of a death announcement, was pointed, but it also echoed a common complaint from ordinary viewers who have watched institutions move left while insisting they’re neutral.

That pattern shows up well beyond TV news. Conservatives have watched the same incentives drive political theater in Washington, like the fights our readers have tracked in recent impeachment-style clashes that even legal scholars have criticized as a “circus”.

When legacy institutions demand trust while behaving like advocacy shops, they shouldn’t be shocked when Americans walk away, or when a president says out loud what many already believe.

Turner’s later years and the unanswered details

Turner had revealed just before his 80th birthday that he had Lewy Body Dementia, and he was reportedly in a rehab center in early 2025 after a bout of pneumonia.

The reports did not state a cause of death or where he died.

The Washington Times obituary emphasized Turner’s legacy as a television pioneer who launched the first 24-hour all-news network and later focused on philanthropy and managing his land holdings as he was slowed by Lewy Body Dementia.

The same Washington Times piece also captured Turner’s own blunt self-assessment across the years, including a line it attributed to him: “If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect,” and a later reflection on selling his company: “I made a mistake. The mistake I made was losing control of the company,”

The corporate endgame, and what happens to CNN now

For a generation, Turner’s story was the classic American arc: build something new, scale it fast, and force the rest of the industry to respond. Then the accountants and dealmakers arrive.

The Post report described CNN as a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, and said Warner Bros. Discovery is in the process of being sold to Paramount Skydance as part of a $111 billion deal, which it said is run by the billionaire Ellison family.

Trump’s post suggested those “new buyers” might restore CNN’s “credibility and glory.” That’s an aspiration, not a plan, and it points to the real test: whether corporate owners will reward serious journalism, or keep rewarding partisan heat that drives clicks.

Americans have seen the same “no consequences” culture in politics, too, where leaders can neglect basics and still demand applause. That’s why fights over public priorities, like the battle over DHS funding and whether ICE and Border Patrol get resources, hit such a nerve with voters who feel ignored.

A legacy that still shapes the country

However you view CNN today, Turner’s influence is hard to deny. He launched a model that changed how Americans consume breaking news and international events, and he built a media empire that included networks like TNT, TBS, and Cartoon Network.

Turner also moved in the political and cultural world. The Post report noted he married and divorced three times, including a marriage to Hollywood star Jane Fonda that began in 1991 and lasted nearly a decade, and it referenced his friendship with Fidel Castro.

Fox News also noted tributes and reaction in its coverage, including that Turner was “surrounded by family” when he died, citing CNN, and it repeated Trump’s description of Turner as “one of the Greats of All Time.” See Fox News’ report on Turner’s death.

Even amid mourning, the politics don’t stop. And they shouldn’t, because the stakes of media power are real, and the public has paid the price for one-sided “news” in everything from elections to public safety to the border. Readers have watched Democrats’ messaging harden across issues, including in debates where Democrats defended prioritizing illegal immigrants over protecting Americans.

Turner built CNN to be disruptive. The tragedy is that too much of the modern media took disruption as a substitute for judgment.

In the end, the country doesn’t need another “giant” in media, it needs grown-ups willing to tell the truth, take the heat, and earn the public’s trust the hard way.