This tribute was prepared by Charm City Celebrity Game Night Honorary Chair and WJZ anchorwoman Denise Koch who began her career at the anchor desk seated next to Jerry Turner at Baltimore's WJZ-TV. The video tribute was part of the Esophageal Cancer Action Network's event in Tribute to Jerry Turner: Charm City Celebrity Game Night. The event featured 24 Baltimore TV and Radio celebrities playing a Charm City version of Hollywood Game Night in hope of winning the Jerry Turner Memorial Trophy.
From the Charm City Celebrity Game Night program:
We knew him as Jerry Turner. He was Baltimore’s own Walter Cronkite. And if you are old enough to know who either of those guys were, you know that is saying a lot. He was the steady voice and image that Baltimoreans trusted to bring them the news of day. Jerry Turner was key to the success of WJZ-TV’s top rated newscast in the 1970’s and 1980’s. In fact, Jerry worked behind the scenes to create the anchor team of Jerry Turner and Al Sanders. Baltimore Sun Columnist Michael Olesker wrote,
Back in 1977, it was Turner who'd called a newspaper guy and declared the importance of Al Sanders. Al had been at WJZ for several years then, after coming out of St. Louis, and he had the kind of presence that convinced Turner that he was anchor quality. Management balked. Turner stood his ground.
And now, on the telephone, he said, “I want you to write something. Say you've learned that Jerry Turner wants Al Sanders as his co-anchor, and if management doesn't agree, Turner's thinking of quitting and taking a job offer in California.”
The newspaper column was written. The next day, the station announced Al Sanders would be co-anchoring with Jerry Turner. They lasted together for the next 10 years, until Turner's death.
It is the nature of television news that it wins favor not only for its coverage of the politics and crime of the day, but also the things viewers feel about those who broadcast it. This is very personal stuff, asking to be invited into people's living rooms every night.
In their time at WJZ-TV, Jerry Turner and Al Sanders went into more homes than the other Baltimore stations -- combined. They were the highest-rated ABC affiliate of their extended era, and there were national research figures that listed them among the top two local anchors in the country.
Al Sanders had a simple philosophy about such things, which he said Turner had passed on to him: Don't try to be somebody you're not.
"Be yourself," he counseled. "Viewers can tell when you're faking it, and they resent it."
Jerry Turner gave himself to his work and he was a newsman’s newsman - but even on the air, he could be silly and enjoyed a good laugh.
In 1986, Jerry was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer and underwent chemoradiation treatments at Johns Hopkins. He returned to the anchor desk in June of 1987, but by December of that year his health had deteriorated such that he could no longer work. He died on December 31, 1987.
Off the air, he was known as Jerry Jackson Joiner, a young man from Mississippi who came to Baltimore in 1962. He lived in Lutherville and was the father of two sons, Jerry, Jr. and Mac. We are privileged to have Jerry’s sons and many of their offspring with us tonight.