Ed Turner, former CNN executive who helped establish network, dies at 66

<br>ATLANTA (AP) _ Ed Turner, a native Oklahoman who helped establish CNN as a major respected news organization, died Saturday. He was 66. <br><br>Turner died at George Washington University Hospital

Sunday, March 31st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ Ed Turner, a native Oklahoman who helped establish CNN as a major respected news organization, died Saturday. He was 66.

Turner died at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., after battling liver cancer.

``Ed loved his profession, his staff and his network,'' former CNN chairman Tom Johnson said. ``His loyalty to Ted Turner, to me and to excellent standards of journalism never will be forgotten.''

Turner was hired in 1980 as one of the first news professionals brought into the company. The fact that he coincidentally shared the last name of founder Ted Turner earned him the nickname ``No Relation'' Turner, which he had printed on matchbooks he distributed from his office, CNN Miami Bureau Chief John Zarella said.

Turner retired in 1998 as vice president in charge of newsgathering and tried unsuccessfully to launch California News Service, a smaller version of CNN. He worked for the Freedom Forum, a nonprofit journalism organization, and had been co-writing a history of CNN with former correspondent Peter Arnett.

Turner was born in Bartlesville, Okla., in 1935 and graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1957.