Congrats to Al Gore! / Al Jazeera buys Current TV

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...y-al-gore-sold-out-to-al-jazeera-8437727.html

I think he got the sale in just under having to pay higher taxes. So much for paying his fair share.

That writer can't seem to decide what it is he finds incorrect in the transaction-- there seems to be stretching going on in several different planes in that story...

Why is that bit about Sully breaking up with Tina in the middle of that article? I confess to not reading the entire thing because it's stupid, but I did scan it for a mention of the Dish and found nothing.

The gist for the OP seems to be...

And still looming is the battle to convince Americans to watch the new channel. "There's a fair amount of paranoia when it comes to Al Jazeera," Robert Thompson, professor of TV and popular culture at Syracuse University, told Reuters, referring to Al Jazeera's image problem in the US

Of course, the chance to point out that Gore is as much of a hypocrit as anyone else with ideals is also up there.

Free market capitalism!

They're actually a well-respected news source in the Arab world. I know we're supposed to hate Arabs at all times, but I'd be interested to see how they report, esp. about the Israeli/Palestinian issue.

Fox News was going insane over this deal yesterday. To make it extra better, Gore said 'no' to Glenn Beck's offer to buy it.

I've seen articles posted on their site that are quite good. Here's what's on there now

http://www.aljazeera.com/

And as this opinion piece on there points out, it will be providing hard news like the BBC instead of mostly opinion like Fox & MSNBC (CNN is just a muddled mess now)


Moreover, this is an excellent time for any entity interested in making an impact in the increasingly dismal US cable news environment. Fox News, which has long been the industry leader in ratings, has lost huge audience share since the re-election of its bete noir Barack Obama. Fox stars like Sean Hannity are reportedly "haemorrhaging viewers" - Hannity has lost nearly half of his audience since the election, with the biggest drop in ratings coming in the coveted 24 to 54-year-old demographic, which had been one of his strongest groups of viewers.

And with both Fox and MSNBC still largely focused on opinion and chat, Al Jazeera America's only "real news" competitor among major domestic cable channels is the weakened and crisis-ridden CNN, now newly under the helm of ex-NBC executive Jeff Zucker, who is expected to transform it soon into more of an entertainment vehicle modelled on his previous success with the Today Show.

Still, some US media observers question whether Al Jazeera has, as Brian Stelter phrased it in the New York Times: "The journalistic muscle and the money to compete head-to-head with CNN and other news channels in the United States."

What a joke! The last time I checked, Al Jazeera's owners weren't strapped for cash. And really, how much "journalistic muscle" does one need to compete with CNN these days - not to mention the braying heads of such opinionated and politicised "news channels" as Fox or MSNBC? Judging from their most recent efforts (such as completely misreporting the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, for example) what little journalism is being practised at outlets such as CNN and Fox these days is, shall we say, far from muscular! Is it any wonder that "the television sets of White House officials and lawmakers weretuned to the channelduring the ArabSpring?


http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/01/20131474537707502.html

After 9/11 I also fell victim to believing that Al Jazeera was a mouthpiece for AQ and OBL. Actually, after having watched it a few times.

I remember seeing a film/documentary trailer about Al Jazeera when I saw Supersize Me in the theaters

But you weren't attacked on 9/11. 9/11, 9/11, 9/11!!!

There were other partners in the deal, and Gore has a fiduciary responsibility to the other partners. Also Gore is a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and sits on the board of Apple, the largest capitalized company in history.

He's behaving like any rational capitalist. Who would've done anything differently?

I caught a program about Brazilian drug gangs done by Current TV. Posted it. Thought it was highly relevant since the Mundial is fast approaching down there.
Nobody responded to that thread.
FML! Gore made a reported 100 million on this transaction for a channel nobody seemed to give a shit about.

Now I know what Al Gore means when he says we need to go green... it means he'll make $100,000, 000 just before the low tax rates he calls unpatriotic will make a big dent in his profits. There is green and then there is Al Gore green.

I've seen quite a bit of their English-language programming overseas and it's actually quite good.

Well good on Al Gore... but I can't imagine how this board would have reacted if a money losing media sink hole was sold for an obnoxious profit to our "friends" in the Middle East if his name was Bush.

Who do you think you are, Rudy Giuliani?

I trust the Al Jazeera owners more than Rupert Murdoch and he's an "ally" supposedly. A good chunk of the current state of idiocy on the right (another being talk radio) can be laid directly at his grubby little feet.

Al-Jazeera is in my view the best news organisation out there. At the very least on a par with BBC, and way ahead of the likes of CNN , MSNBC and Fox. The only thing I've seen that comes close to their in-depth analysis in the States is NPR and PBS Frontline.

Well, if you mean Prescott Bush, sure...

Al Gorzeera!
Any carbon credits included?