L-R FRANK HILTZ, CHRIS TURNER, KIM RICHARD Christopher Turner Bio.
Christopher Turner grew up in Tulsa Oklahoma and He attended The University of Oklahoma Journalism School on scholarship.
In 1980 he joined Cable News Network in Atlanta while it was in its infancy. His father was Ed Turner one of the four founders of CNN. Christopher saw an opportunity in the fledgling network. He was required to learn 14 separate jobs in his entry level position and a "VJ" (video journalist). It wasn't easy trying to master each of the jobs but in the early days of CNN each person was required to do the work of 5 people because of the tight budget restraints of the young network. Eventually Christopher moved over to help start Headline News and ran the video tape editing department.
In 1983 he was promoted to field producer for the network's first political unit. He covered President Reagan, then Vice-President Bush, Sen. Walter Mondale, Sen. Gary Hart, Sen. John Glenn, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro and Rev. Jesse Jackson. He was based in New York City, Washington D.C. and Minneapolis. After the 1984 elections he was Asst. Bureau chief for the Southeast Bureau based in Atlanta where he ran coverage for 8 southern states.
In 1986 he was promoted to asst. bureau chief and field producer for the CNN bureau in Rome. While he Rome he covered the bombing of Libya, the Iran-Iraq War, The U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, Greek and Turkish squabbles, NATO, U.S.-Soviet relations, Pope John Paul II, 2 G-8 summits and almost a dozen terrorist incidents throughout Europe.
In 1988 Christopher was transferred to Washington D.C. and produced CNN coverage of the House of Representatives and the Senate. During his stay in Washington he was tapped for several overseas assignments including the U.S. Invasion of Panama, the first Persian Gulf War and the Bosnian Civil War. During the Gulf War, Christopher first ran the network "Pool" coverage for all 4 networks and 3 dozen international networks. After CNN's pool rotation time was up he returned to working for CNN as a battlefield producer and SCUD attack producer. Christopher saw combat with the 2nd armored Cavalry, the 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division.
In 1992 he was sent as a field producer to Sarajevo to cover the Serbian siege of the city. His duties there were interrupted when his photographer was shot by a sniper and he facilitated her emergency evacuation to Germany and then The Mayo Clinic.
Later that year Christopher was promoted to Sr. International Editor for International coverage. During his 8 years on the international desk he ran coverage on hundreds of stories. The famine and later the U.S. invasion of Somalia, Cuba, Argentina, the Kyoto Earthquake, the Israeli-Arab conflicts, the Bosnian Civil War and siege of Sarajevo, The NATO intervention in Bosnia, the growing terror threat and hundreds of stories he cant even remember.
Christopher retired from CNN to be with his dying father (who left CNN in 1997). Christopher had fallen in love with the Big Horn Basin during a visit in 2001 so in 2003 he returned and bought a Ranch in Clark where he lives with his wife Rene and two step-children Will and Kate. During his time at CNN he was awarded The Peabody Award for The Gulf War, 5 Cable Ace Awards for Domestic and International stories and a National Emmy Award for producing CNN's Coverage of the U.S. actions in Somalia.
Christopher is currently president of Alamo Ranch Productions LLC. His company produces "Comfort Food, Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes for Your Mind" a music and comedy variety show that is broadcast live from the world famous Irma Hotel. Christopher is the writer and host of the show which airs on KODI and KZMQ Saturday mornings from 9-10am. Christopher is very proud of "Comfort Food" as it is Wyoming only live variety show and one of only 5 such shows in the U.S.. He plans to take the show to "as many markets as I can find" throughout the state. Christopher is very proud to live in Wyoming and hopes his new company's productions will always entertain and serve his community and his adopted home state.
The staff of Comfort Food includes, Audio Engineer Frank Hiltz, Beat Reporter Kim Richard, Actress Wendy Corr and young actor Bryce Cornatzer
