The man who changed TV news
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Turner transformed the media industry and revolutionized television news when he launched the Cable News Network — CNN — in 1980. It was the country’s first 24-hour news channel. Turner died Wednesday. He was 87.
NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour about Turner’s legacy.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Erika Ryan and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. And today, the legacy of the man who changed the way we get the news. |
| 0:11.3 | If Alexander the Great could conquer the known world, why couldn't I start CNN? |
| 0:16.0 | That is CNN founder Ted Turner, speaking to Oprah Winfrey. Turner transformed the media industry and revolutionized television news when he launched the cable news network, or CNN, in 1980. |
| 0:29.9 | It was the country's first 24-hour news channel. |
| 0:33.6 | You can do so much more in 24 hours than you can in 24 minutes. Turner died Wednesday |
| 0:41.3 | at the age of 87. Consider this. Ted Turner changed the way we consume the news. How did he do it? |
| 0:50.4 | And where are we now? |
| 0:59.3 | From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. |
| 1:09.7 | It's consider this from NPR. |
| 1:30.5 | When the U.S. and Israel bomb Iran and start a war, we know about it moments after it started, sometimes even moments before. When Russian tanks cross the border into Ukraine, we watch as it is happening. And when after five decades, the U.S. returns to the moon, that feat is beamed all around the world. This access to immediacy, our ability to be there as history is unfolding, |
| 1:38.3 | much of that is possible thanks to the vision of CNN founder Ted Turner. He was affectionately known as the mouth of the South, |
| 1:47.9 | and he transformed the way the world got its news |
| 1:50.7 | when he founded the 24-7 News Network in 1980. |
| 1:55.0 | And one person who played a key role in that legacy as well |
| 1:58.3 | is CNN chief international anchor Christian Amampur. She started at CNN as a desk assistant back in 1983. |
| 2:07.6 | Welcome, Christian. Wow, Elsa. Thank you. And the way you put it really brings back so many memories. I can imagine. Well, as I mentioned, you began at CNN almost at the very beginning |
| 2:19.7 | of the network. What was it like back then to be there? What was Ted Turner like back then? |
| 2:25.7 | It was amazing. I joined three years after the start. So I've been there 43 years. CNN is in my DNA, |
| 2:32.7 | but who knew? You know, a lot of us, people of my generation, |
| 2:36.1 | who joined us desk assistants or video assistants or whatever the VJs, video journalists, and |
| 2:41.0 | the like, we literally used to say to ourselves, well, we're all just undergrads. None of us have |
| 2:46.5 | gone to graduate school, but this is our graduate school on the job, and we're going to get all the |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.