Tapfuma Machakaire
“Hello, the man from Robert Mugabe.” That was Ted Turner’s greeting as he welcomed me into his boardroom for lunch in October 1990, alongside eight other journalists from around the world. Two of us were from Africa.
The other was Solly Phetoe from Bop-TV of Bophuthatswana, a homeland under Apartheid South Africa. The others were Ralitsa Vesselinova Vassileva from Bulgarian TV, Shobi Pereira Torgersen from NRK Norway, Lin Chung Bee and Adeline Tan from SBC Singapore, Iñaki Bizkarra from Euskal Telebista (Basque TV), Yan Radzeitch from TSS Soviet Union, and Enrique Mrak from Monte Carlo TV Uruguay.
Affectionately known as “Uncle Ted” at CNN, he shared his vision with us — the vision that led him to create the International Professional Program. The program brought journalists from around the world together to work at CNN, drawn from regular contributors to CNN World Report.
At the time, I was the ZBC Midlands Correspondent. When my late boss, Anani Maruta, told me about the opportunity to contribute stories to CNN World Report, I adjusted my pieces to give them an international angle in hopes they’d make it on the special program.
Being based far from headquarters, I never expected to be selected for the CNN attachment.
According to Uncle Ted, World Report was designed to improve the flow of international information in all directions. When he launched CNN in 1980, the first 24 hour TV news channel he had no intention of broadcasting beyond the U.S.
That changed after a 1982 trip to Cuba. “We had a film crew in Cuba and one of them told me that he had been informed that President Castro wanted to meet me,” Ted recalled.
“I went, despite all the prejudices and preconceived notions most people in the capitalist world had about Cuba. I thought I was entering enemy territory. ”But when I got there, I realized Fidel Castro was watching CNN.
He had a satellite dish and said it was important to know what was happening in the world. I was there for a week and thought: if our greatest enemy isn’t an enemy, then who is? ”Turner had shared this same vision earlier, on May 6, 1989, in his address to the CNN World Report Contributors Conference titled “Let’s Call It One World.
We’ve got to Think Internationally. Everybody Loves Their World.” After meeting Castro, he decided to visit Moscow and build relationships that could become bridges between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
That led to his 1990 visit with then-fiancée Jane Fonda to meet Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Kremlin.
ZBC signed on to the CNN World Report deal after an earlier visit by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, who had also met Uncle Ted.
My time at CNN transformed my journalism career. More than anything, it gave me exposure I would never have had otherwise — including a tour of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. There, I stepped into the Space Dome Theater, a 3D theater where we watched footage of real Mars missions.
I also sat in on CNN International’s morning editorial meetings, where bureaus pitched story ideas during the buildup to the Gulf War — Operation Desert Storm — dubbed “The Mother of All Battles.
”For the duration of the program, the nine of us lived in one house, sharing meals and stories every day. It was a remarkable cultural exchange. I even learnt to use chopsticks, thanks to our Chinese colleagues. I will forever be grateful to Uncle Ted. If we had more people like him, the world would be a safer and better place. Rest in peace, Uncle Ted.
Ted Turner the founder of the first 24 hour TV news channel CNN which he launched on June 1, 1980 in Atlanta Georgia died this week at his Avalon Plantation in Florida USA.
Today there are hundreds of 24 hour news channels across the globe.
Tapfuma Machakaire is a former reporter with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). Contact him at +263 0712213371 +263 0774776437 email tapfuma.chihwa@gmail.com
