Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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from today's Variety:
Turner takes a stand
Maverick mogul blasts big business congloms
By ELIZABETH GUIDER
LAS VEGAS -- Alternately wisecracking and whimsical, Ted Turner took several pot shots at media consolidation but largely spared his old colleagues at AOL Time WarnerTime Warner during the opening keynote session at NATPE Tuesday morning.
The maverick mogulmogul told some 750 NATPE delegates that the concentration of media might in the hands of five congloms had made it well-nigh impossible to break into the business -- and, even more perniciously, made the news operations of such companies less critical of government.
But describing himself as "phased out" of the bizbiz, the CNN founder came across to the NATPE contingent as more resigned than riled up. Feisty he was not.
Given war and environmental degradation, he pointed out, there's a tremendous responsibility in running these operations.
"We need to be very well informed. We need less Hollywood news and a little more hard news," Turner said in an opening 10-minute address. That young people get much of their news from sources like Jon StewartJon Stewart on Comedy CentralComedy Central was, in his view, "frightening."
For Turner, the issue of media consolidation is in his "top five" list of global problems somewhere down from war, nuclear proliferation and environmental degradation.
Responding then to questions from former CNN news anchor Bernard Shaw, Turner reiterated that he was "against the formation of these giant companies," including in retrospect the merger between TW and AOL, which voting for was his "craziest" business mistake.
Asked by Shaw what he would do were he to find himself in a sauna with former AOL TW chairman Gerald Levin, (the architect of the merger), Turner declined the ball and quipped, "I forgave Russia for despotic communism, so I can forgive Jerry Levin." In fact, Turner said there was no point in rehashing the AOL fiasco in that he still sits on the board and has a responsibility "not to be too critical of my old company."
Coming across as more rueful than wrathful, the 66-year-old cable pioneer advised a couple of questioners from the audience to take their greatest risks while young, as, to his mind, there's nothing worse than an older guy who used to be rich. "That's why I started that restaurant business," he added, referring to his chain of grills, which specialize in bison burgers.
"It's not as exciting as the bombing of Baghdad, but people have to eat. They've got half the fat of beef burgers," he half-joked.
To another query from a young cable aspirant, Turner opined that consolidation had made it "virtually impossible" to start up a service -- "they own 90% of the business" -- so "I'd go into the restaurant biz -- or go work for a salary for those jerks."
Meanwhile, in kicking off the 42nd NATPE convention the org's prexyprexy-CEO Rick Feldman unveiled an initiative to help local stations deal with indecency issues.
Together with the Annenberg School at USC, NATPE will host a symposium this spring in Los Angeles to come up with solutions that will both safeguard consumers and allow creativity to flourish.
"The uncertainty over the regulatory landscape," Feldman told NATPE delegates, has led to "a chilling atmosphere."
He pointed to the latest incidence of censorship in which PBS excised a scene from HBO's movie "A Dirty War" because it showed a naked woman being de-contaminated of some chemical poison.
Feldman said incidents like that and the reluctance of some stations to broadcast "Saving Private Ryan""Saving Private Ryan" because they were concerned they might be fined - or even loose their broadcast licenses - needed to be addressed. "NATPE will help find some answers," he said.
"The guidelines have to be clearer and our own stance on these issues needs to be communicated to government and the FCC in particular," other NATPE reps added.
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