CNN founder, Ted Turner, declared in Shanghai last night - " I'm a socialist
at heart" who is concerned that " Internet guys have gotten so rich so
fast."
Ted Turner, one of the world's richest men, the US leading private land
owner and top media player was addressing Time Warner's Global Forum
gathering of 500 Chinese and international entrpreneurs in Shanghai leading
up to the October 1, 50-year celebrations of Chinese communist rule.
Turner took a swipe at Oracle Corp's chairman Larry Ellison for his yachts.
"I'd rather use money for the benefit of mankind rather than spend it
selfishly," he said. Turner also owns yachts.
Time Warner chairman, Gerald Levin, introduced Chines President Ziang Zemin,
describing him as " my old friend."
Levin ignored the fact that Chinese authorities blocked news-stand sales of
a special China edition of Time magazine this week because it included
essays by Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, and by political exiles Wei
Jingsheng and Fang Lizhi.
Meanwhile Viacom's, Sumner Redstone, warned the gathering that international
news organisations should avoid being " unnecessarily offensive " to foreign
governments.
As they expand their global reach media companies must be aware "of the
politics and attitudes of the governments where we operate," Redstone said.
"Journalistic integrity must prevail in the final analysis. But that doesn't
mean that journalistic integrity should be exercised in a way that is
unnecessarily offensive," Mr Redstone said.
Well, at the risk of bringing down the wrath of Redstone on my head, here
comes my satirical view of the Chinese administration.
(Good evening, Dan Rather reporting tonight from central Beijing. CBS news
has learned that the communist government here has jailed thousands of
political critics and journalists in the past month. But there has never
been a finer breathtaking show of military might on parade in this capital
city. A spectacular event. The mass parade for the 50th anniversary of the
founding of the People's Republic of China, where hundreds of thousands of
flowers have been used to decorate the main avenues and squares. Oh look,
there is a miniature W-88 nuclear warhead passing before the main viewing
stand. Hold on! This just in to CBS news. We've just learned that China
government officials last night did go through with the promise to execute
hundreds of prisoners. Police insist that the prisoners were not dissidents,
saying that the mass executions are part of a crackdown on crime. The
executions were carried out with a single bullet to the back of the head.
Now back to the parade, and this beautiful float representing Taiwan. Floats
representing all provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, show the
motherland as one big happy family. These floats in this fabulous parade
depict the scenery across the country. This is Dan Rather returning you to
the studio)
If Redstone's MTV is unable to strike a licensing deal in time, China's
National Day Parade celebrations will be carried live on the World Wide Web at http://China10k.com Wear red.