American Jewish Committee Salutes TV Mogul Turner

To be Ted Turner these days is to be on top of the world.

At least much of the world seems to be glued to his 24-hour-a-day Cable News Network to stay atop events as war rages in the Persian Gulf.

But when asked Thursday how he enjoys his new stature as video ambassador to the international community, Turner furrowed his brow and shook his head.

“I’m fighting depression a little bit,” the 52-year-old media magnate said before the American Jewish Committee honored him at the Beverly Wilshire hotel for his work toward better human relations. “I hate to see people suffering on this planet. I think the world should be cooperating. And I’m badly hurt when it doesn’t happen.”

It was a night of homage and glitz, complete with uniformed police officers guarding the front door, paparazzi firing a barrage of strobe lights, a meal of broiled salmon with a papaya-grapefruit-avocado salad and skillful publicists making sure Turner did not have to respond to more probing questions.

Clad in a navy blue double-breasted suit, Turner fended off the media at a carefully orchestrated photo opportunity in the Beverly Hills hotel’s Champagne Room. Then, sipping a Virgin Mary, he held court with top entertainment industry executives under a crystal chandelier in the Burgundy Room.

Finally, with actress Jane Fonda at his side, he descended to the Wintergarten, where a six-man combo played top 40 songs and waiters draped white cloth napkins into the laps of about 700 diners--who chose either $500 or $1,000 plates.

“He is way ahead of his time,” said Bruce Ramer, chairman of the American Jewish Committee’s national board of trustees, in one of many praises sung during the night for the yachtsman, baseball team owner, colorizer of classic films and founder of the Goodwill Games.

“He has . . . globalized communication.”

All of which is a far cry from the early days of Robert Edward Turner III, a man who once rode an ostrich to promote the Atlanta Braves.

Today, nearly 11 years after CNN first hit the airwaves, he has changed the news-gathering process with instantaneous footage from around the world.

Turner also heads cable outlets TBS (Turner Broadcasting System) and TNT (Turner Network Television).

The American Jewish Committee, founded in 1906 to protect the security of Jews, bestowed on Turner its annual Sherrill C. Corwin Human Relations Award “in recognition of his contributions to fostering improved intergroup relations and understanding,” said Richard A. Weston, president of the committee’s Los Angeles chapter.

“I’m proud of our people at CNN,” Turner said. “But under the current circumstances, with so many peoples’ lives on the line, it’s not a time for rejoicing.”