At Time Warner's annual stockholders meeting last week in Atlanta, the buzz was all about Ted Turner's Garboesque I-vant-to-be-alone speech.

What you may have missed was TWX's new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report.  The report addresses Time Warner's role as good corporate citizen in a variety of areas, including diversity, journalistic integrity, child protection online, content accessibility, consumer privacy, ethics and governance, employee growth and development, public policy, the environment, supply chain management, and philanthropy.

All of that is well and good, but I want to ask: who is going to take responsibility for the Warner Bros./Matt Leblanc vehicle Joey?

[image from CBS News]

In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Time-Warner's CEO, Dick Parsons, said the "whole media sector right now is in a little bit of a malaise."

The whole sector?  That doesn't seem to be the case with companies like YouTube.com.  Then again, these companies are creating their own categories in media. 

So it's ironic that today Ted Turner left the board of Time-Warner.  Of course, he's legendary in media.  He did things that many thought were absolutely crazy – such as launching a 24-hour news channel.

No, the media industry is not in a funk.  It's just the "malaise" of CEOs like Parsons.  They don't have the guts – like Ted Turner – to make big bets. 

As for Parsons, he is doing the typical things:  small acquisitions, stock buybacks, division sell-offs, and so on.

Why not try something daring?

• Turner did not stand for re-election to TWX board of directors
• He didn't stay for the video montage in his honor
• He disappeared before former CNN chief Tom Johnson gave a long tribute to him

As if $7 beers, steroid scandals, and terrible haircuts (oh, Johnny Damon, what happened?) weren't enough of a challenge for the beleagured game of baseball to overcome, now there's an even bigger threat to worry about: changes in corporate ownership.

The Atlanta Braves are up on the auction block (as they have been for quite a while), and it looks like Time Warner may finally get out of the big leagues by selling them to Colorado-based Liberty Media Corporation.

Ted Turner had long held a soft spot for the Atlanta Braves, acquiring them three decades ago. When Time Warner merged with Turner Broadcasting System in 1996, it also picked up the Braves. But rather than seeing the Braves as a perk, TWX has long viewed the Braves as an albatross around its neck.

Third baseman Chipper Jones, echoing the sentiments many Braves, is worried about the corporate switch-up pitch. "I don't know what [Liberty Media's] intentions are as far as salary structure, but the bottom line is: They're from out of town."

If TWX can sell the Braves, will it finally get back on base?