Turner Toes New Company Line, but Gleam Still There

Ted Turner wanted to be statesmanlike. You could tell he was really trying.

Pressed on all sides by reporters after Thursday morning’s special meeting of Time Warner Inc. shareholders, the sometimes volatile Turner initially deflected questions about his and Time Warner’s intensifying feud with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

“The company has already commented on it,” said Turner, dapper in a black suit and Atlanta Braves tie.

Asked about Time Warner’s plans now that company shareholders have voted to absorb his Turner Broadcasting System Inc., Turner’s answer befit a fresh-minted corporate vice chairman.

“I want whatever Jerry wants,” he said, referring to his new boss, Time Warner Chairman Gerald M. Levin.

The questions about Murdoch kept coming, though, and just as Turner was slipping through the crowd to the safety of the elevator, a reporter asked whether Turner regretted his remark last week comparing his Australian-born rival to “the late Fuhrer.”

A gleam came into Turner’s eye, and it was instantly obvious that the cautious, corporate Ted had left the room.

“Yes,” Turner replied with a grin, “I should have said he’s a disgrace to journalism--an Australian disgrace to journalism.”

Murdoch’s Fox News Channel, the all-news cable TV channel launched this week to compete with Turner’s CNN, is suing Turner and Time Warner for allegedly conspiring to shut it out of New York by denying it a slot in Time Warner’s cable systems, which dominate the city at 1.1 million subscribers.

Meanwhile, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes offered to help smooth over a family problem for Turner. According to an account in the Wall Street Journal, Turner has told his son, Robert E. “Teddy” Turner IV, that he would lose his job at Turner Broadcasting’s home video unit after the merger with Time Warner. “You’re toast,” Turner reportedly told his son at a family dinner.

Ailes was quoted in Murdoch’s New York Post on Thursday as inviting the younger Turner to New York for a job interview with Fox News. “He’s got all the credentials,” Ailes told the Post, adding, “In fact, he may have been overqualified” for his father’s company.