Ted Turner: The man who gave the world eyes that never close, By Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú

Ted Turner, the visionary behind CNN, fundamentally reshaped the world's relationship with news. In an era often characterized by limited information and delayed reporting, Turner launched Cable News Network in June 1980, effectively "cracking the sky open" and ushering in the age of 24-hour news.

Before CNN, global news was delivered like a prescribed dosage, controlled by major networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS. Anchors like Walter Cronkite presented curated information at set times, meaning significant events might only reach the public hours later. This structure, where information was withheld or delayed, was not merely a scheduling quirk; it was a political tool, a form of control disguised as routine.

Turner's launch of CNN was a bold, almost reckless, act of creation that challenged this established order. He declared that news would "never sleep," asserting that people deserved to know events as they happened. This was as much a political statement about the public's right to immediate information as it was a commercial venture.

Initially, the establishment met Turner's venture with skepticism and ridicule. He was derisively called "the Mouth from the South" and his network, the "Chicken Noodle Network." However, Turner, described as a man with the impatience of someone who refused to "watch the road pass him by," embodied motion and change. He was the force that propelled the future into the present, leaving a complicated legacy as the architect of an information revolution that continues to shape how we see the world, navigate fake news, and fight for truth.