Ted Turner, CNN founder and titan of modern America, dies age 87

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If the first age of the American nation was set into motion by Benjamin Franklin, perhaps the second is owed to Ted Turner who died yesterday aged 87. The outspoken mogul launched CNN in 1980 and in doing so pioneered the 24-hour news cycle, which has sensationalised daily life, swayed public opinion and helped propel Donald Trump to power. It also cemented the media as a fourth estate that could better hold public officials to account and shape government policy, for better and for worse. The biographer Walter Isaacson paid tribute to Turner at yesterday’s Truth Tellers Summit, describing him as “fearless”.