"I just wanted to let you know that I think CNN is the most objective source of news, read the missive, hand-delivered to Ted in his office in Atlanta by CNN's lone field reporter at the time, Mike Boettcher, and if you want to come down to Cuba"
"Duck-hunting and cigar-smoking with Fidel was Ted's first indication that this all-news channel he'd mortgaged himself to launch just might unify the world and bring peace to the planet. Before CNN's debut, even he was skeptical about the idea. I hate the news, he'd say. The news is boring."
In February 1982, CNN was hemorrhaging money at $2 million per month, forcing owner Ted Turner to liquidate personal assets like krugerrands to meet payroll. The network faced existential threats from ABC's planned rival news service and lacked the resources of established broadcasters. Turner, raised to despise communism by his father, maintained only $49 in cash as a personal principle. Despite his initial skepticism about news programming, Turner received an unexpected private invitation from Fidel Castro, who had been pirating CNN's signal in Havana and considered it the most objective news source available. This endorsement from a US adversary suggested CNN's emerging potential to transcend political boundaries and achieve global influence.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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