…or so says Ted Turner
From Broadcasting & Cable: Turner Compares Fox’s Popularity to Hitler
Ted Turner called Fox a propaganda tool of the Bush administration and indirectly compared Fox News Channel’s popularity to Adolf Hitler’s popular election to run Germany before World War II.[…]
While Fox may be the largest news network [and has overtaken Turner’s CNN], it’s not the best, Turner said. He followed up by pointing out that Adolph Hitler got the most votes when he was elected to run Germany prior to WWII. He said the network is the propaganda tool for the Bush Administration. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s certainly legal. But it does pose problems for our democracy. Particularly when the news is dumbed down,” leaving voters without critical information on politics and world events and overloaded with fluff,” he said.
Lovely. I respect Turner for his vision vis-a-vis cable TV and cable news in particular and his business success in general, but please. He frequently comes across as something of a loon.
Of course, this isn’t Ted’s first flirtation with Godwin’s Law and Fox News. In 1996, which FNC was launched,
Turner compared Murdoch to Adolf Hitler, but later qualified his remarks, saying he was only referring to “the way Hitler managed the news in Germany.”
Although, according to USAT he later backtracked a bit:
At a Time Warner shareholder meeting just hours earlier, in response to a question, he said he was indeed sorry he’d compared competitor Rupert Murdoch to Adolf Hitler.“Yes. I should have said he’s a disgrace to journalism,” Turner added, cracking a smile. “But an Australian disgrace to journalism.”
I found the Fox New press release on the subject rather amusing:
“Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network, and now his mind,” said a Fox News spokesperson. “We wish him well.”
Indeed.