“Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news giant, has long tried to convince Americans that it is a legitimate news organization, not a parrot of Middle Eastern propaganda or something more sinister,” Brian Stelter reports for The New York Times. “It just bought itself 40 million more chances to make its case.”
“Al Jazeera on Wednesday announced a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore, a former vice president, and his business partners seven years ago. Al Jazeera plans to shut Current and start an English-language channel, which will be available in more than 40 million homes, with newscasts emanating from both New York and Doha, Qatar,” Stelter reports. “A decade ago, Al Jazeera’s flagship Arabic-language channel was reviled by American politicians for showing videotapes from Al Qaeda members and sympathizers. Now the news operation is buying an American channel, having convinced Mr. Gore and the other owners of Current that it has the journalistic muscle and the money to compete head-to-head with CNN and other news channels in the United States.”
Stelter reports, “Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with direct knowledge of the deal pegged it at around $500 million, indicating a $100 million payout for Mr. Gore, who owned 20 percent of Current. Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1, according to several people who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But the deal was not signed until Wednesday.”
Read more in the full article here.
“The network, which was co-founded by Mr. Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt in 2005, has recently been struggling with low ratings,” Keach Hagey and John Jannarone report for The Wall Street Journal. “Not all cable operators are on board with the change. Time Warner Cable Inc., the second-largest cable operator, said late Wednesday it was dropping Current TV. The network’s owners acknowledged the deal was the reason.”
“Mr. Hyatt said they agreed to sell to al-Jazeera in part because ‘al-Jazeera was founded with the same goals we had for Current,”‘ including ‘to give voice to those whose voices are not typically heard’ and ‘to speak truth to power,'” Hagey and Jannarone report. “Other suitors who didn’t share Current’s ideology were rebuffed. Glenn Beck’s The Blaze approached Current about buying the channel last year, but was told that ‘the legacy of who the network goes to is important to us and we are sensitive to networks not aligned with our point of view,’ according to a person familiar with the negotiations.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple board member Al Gore inaugurated into Internet Hall Of Fame – April 25, 2012
Apple board member Al Gore faces conflict of interest charges over Apple’s hydrogen power plans – April 9, 2012
Al Gore accused of abusing his Apple Board of Directors position for personal gain (with video) – February 22, 2012
Apple Board member Al Gore mocked at Apple shareholders meeting – February 26, 2010
Apple Board Member Al Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize for global warming work – October 12, 2007
Al Jazeera chooses Apple Macintosh technology – November 19, 2006
Google + Apple + Al Gore’s Current TV = ? – August 31, 2006
Apple Board member Al Gore gets 10,387 more Apple options – March 1, 2010
Apple supports terrorism.
You talk utter rubbish. Grow up.
+1
It never ceases to amaze me how provincial Americans can be. As someone who spent almost two months abroad on business during the last year, I’ve had the chance to see how the rest of world looks at us and reports our news. Quite frankly, the “take” of news organizations such as the BBC and even Al Jazerra (which, if you ever watched it, you’d know it actually does a pretty good job of providing international news coverage) provides a different, and often useful, perspective on America.
– 57,893,933.033
+∞!
American “news” TV sucks when compared to the rest of the world. I’ve spent time working in Asia, so I’ve seen what else is out there.
(It was Handsome Smitty’s girlfriend who was trying to buy iPads in Kentucky with her food stamps card.)
+1
I’m quite convinced KSH is kidding.
Why don’t you, also, say that the co-founder SJobs (the biologic son of the Arabic Syrian born Abdulfattah Jandali) is a terrorist !!!!
Al Jazeera is owned by Qatar – the largest US ally in the gulf region and host of the largest US base in the Gulf.
Hmmm… why does this remind me a little of Qatar sponsoring one of Spain’s two giants in soccer, Barcelona, only to find out later that Spain supported Qatar’s World Cup bid.
Gore seems to have made out quite well in this transaction, far better than what one would have expected, is there some quid pro quo we haven’t learned of yet? How does making a pseudo-legal bribe to Gore help Al Jazeera? We’ll have to wait and see.
Well, how much did he invest in it to begin with? Perhaps he and Hyatt lost money on the deal.
*sigh*…. MDN becoming the Fox News of Mac rumor sites.
So what do you think that makes the NY Times and WSJ, since both happen to be the sources cited for MDN’s post?
Did you somehow fail to check the links?
steveH,
You’re new here, aren’t you, SteveH? Sadly, Bill is spot on. MDN is slanted quite to the right. They post stories they know will rev up fellow elephants. Stories such as this one, in fact. And the Tea Party enthusiasts jump in full-throttle. Just look at the usernames of some of these people. It’s not uncommon for things to turn racist, among other things. All this, alas, on an Apple rumors site. Good times.
Why then, below this article, does MDN provide links to their other articles involving Gore and Al Jazeera, namely:
Apple board member Al Gore inaugurated into Internet Hall Of Fame – April 25, 2012
Al Jazeera chooses Apple Macintosh technology – November 19, 2006
Face it, MDN covers all things Apple-related. They’ve been covering Gore since he joined the BoD. Because they are smart.
Here’s what I think: When the story doesn’t happen to favor your side (which is happening more and more lately), then you attack the messenger.
I didn’t see you making up shit and whining about the Tea Party when MDN posted Al Gore’s Apple Keynote-based doc ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ snags two Oscar nominations, you hypocrite.
Obviously, you aren’t the sharpest pencil in the pack. MDN’s political leanings are easy to spot. Point is, I’d rather not see any political posts (left or right) unless it relates directly to Apple’s products or bottom-line.
Maybe I’m slow, but I can’t figure out which way MDN’s political views point. I think they just post links that relate to Apple, and Apple related topics. Sometimes they are political in nature. MDN just posted a link to something going on with Al Gore right now. Did MDN say anything political? Nope! The only political views I can find is in the comments.
How do our stupid comments about Apple related news, somehow make MDN wrong for posting the news.
I agree with “Regular Reader”. This is news and Apple related. If you don’t like it, don’t follow the link, there are plenty of other things to read here on the site, but don’t somehow blame MDN for not only posting articles that YOU want to read.
There are other people out here who do find this interesting.
… take on what I expected to be major flame-bait. MDN HAS been to the right of me, yet not nearly so far as some of the ignorant trolls too often found here.
al-J has, for the past year or so, focused on the news of the Middle East. It certainly HAS covered stories most major US outlets have ignored and it HAS pointed out different aspects of the stories both have covered. That aside, I don’t recall seeing any hate mongering, or right-baiting, or calls for Jihad, or Islamo-centricity. It has been MUCH more “fair and balanced” than Fox News has ever been.
Unless you’ve got FACTS to the contrary, keep an open mind.
Al-Jazeera is as “fair and balanced” as the accused FOX News that you deride. Al-Jazeera is anti-Israel/anti-US in that these two countries are always to blame for all the Middle East problems. I have not seen any criticism of the Qatari government of anything to which is an indicator how far their “fair and balance” will be taken.
… does not like Israel or the US does not mean they make up lies about either. It does not mean they attack Christianity (or any other religion) as a threat to world peace or the like. It does not mean they preach hate about either.
True, they post the uglier truths about each. And they often ignore the uglier truths about … for example, Qatar. If you don’t want your uglier truths made public, don’t DO them! Don’t shoot down grade schoolers in the street, for example!
Well yes they do make up stories. I never said that they are attacking Christianity, I do not where you got that from. They do not not preach hate but they show only one side. If you like hearing that kind of reporting, fine. I do not know where shooting school children came into play into this but you yourself admit that they self censor themselves so how open and balanced and fair are they really?
@Mr. Tuttle
“but they show only one side”
Really, how fair and balanced is our media? We only show our side of the story as well. We kill and murder people with drones and we only report “Oh, our drone strike killed bad guy X”. Do we mention the kids or cab drivers we also killed.
I am sure if Pakistan did a drone strike on us, we would not report “Oh, yes, in further news, Pakistan did a drone strike, killed bad guy Charles Manson, with only nine other reported people dead as collateral damage, now on to the weather”.
Don’t we do that when we talk about them? ALL media is biased. The only way we as Americans can get the real truth is by making ALL sides available. I think the world will become a better place if we CAN see THEIR side as well.
It would lead to a better understanding of each other, and it would make propaganda on all sides more obvious.
….but hey, I believe in freedom of speech and I want to hear all sides, and yes, I want them to be just as biased in presenting their news as we are when we present ours.
Only then can we know the truth.
We have to stop saying we are Americans and we believe in freedom of speech, just as long as we don’t allow somebody else to present their side of the story.
To me, being an American takes humility, and sometimes we need to forced to look in the mirror and really good reporting on the consequences of Drone strikes (for a start) is exactly what we need.
We need to see ourselves through THEIR eyes if we are ever to understand why so many people in the world hate us.
Don’t forget, putting all the bullshit aside, we are all people. We all cry when our children are killed. Nobody wants to send their kids off to war, and 99.9% of all people in the world would rather be home watching TV with their kids than dying on a battle field or sending their kids to die.
There are a few evil people, but I have faith in humanity, and I believe a mother in Pakistan loves her children just as much as we love ours. Most people are good, worship their God in their own way, and want to go to heaven too. Their voices deserve to be heard. Only then can we have peace on earth.
Gore is, unfortunately, an Apple Board of Directors member.
MDN pretty much has to cover this – and the words above are quotes from the NYT and the WSJ, not MDN, by the way.
They “have to” cover this? Really?
As with all media, they cover what they want and people view what they want to hear.
“People view what they want to hear.” Isn’t that an inconvenient truth…
Why would this be an unfortunate thing? There are plenty of folks from all sides of the political spectrum sitting on countless Boards of Directors. Only political dummies es who spend their time listening to hyperbolic windbags from both sides of the aisle see any of this as an issue. So, once again.
The world is run by people richer than you. They don’t care about you. They could care less about political philosophy (unless it directly challenges their ability to keep you sheep from being confused by pointless rhetoric. Their interest is to keep you all bleating like sheep and spouting all sorts of crap about ideology.
There is no difference. Politicians of all stripes only act to keep themselves in power. you lefties and righties are just fodder for the news media, (which iOS not leftist, but as capitalist as they come). Grow up. Quit jerking off. Get a real job. A computer company’s philosophy is in line with yours when you buy their products. It won’t make you handsome, smart or funny. It’s a publicly held company.
Sad. Reminds me of the 70s when researchers discovered the so-called “silent majority” was actually a noisy minority.
Regardless of where this headline or story originated, it’s becoming painfully obvious MDN likes mixing in it’s political views with it’s Mac-related posts. Perhaps they’re simply trolling for hits since politics seems to get a lot of people stirred up these days, but there is little doubt which direction they lean based on the political news they choose to cover. I prefer no politics on Apple news & rumor sites unless it directly affects the company’s products or bottom-line. I’m sure there are others who feel the same.
Is that why below the article MDN provides links to their other articles involving Gore and Al Jazeera, such as:
Apple board member Al Gore inaugurated into Internet Hall Of Fame – April 25, 2012
Al Jazeera chooses Apple Macintosh technology – November 19, 2006
Face it, MDN covers all things Apple-related. They’ve been covering Gore since he joined the BoD. Because they are smart.
Here’s what I think: When the story doesn’t happen to favor your side (which is happening more and more lately), then you attack the messenger.
I didn’t see you whining “Why is this here?!” when MDN posted “Apple board member Al Gore inaugurated into Internet Hall Of Fame” or Al Gore’s Apple Keynote-based doc ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ snags two Oscar nominations, you hypocrite.
@Bill
“it’s becoming painfully obvious MDN likes mixing in it’s political views”
Unless you are reading something I’m not. I don’t see their political views on the subject, do you? I only see a link and a summary of the article. What political views do you see? Could you please share it with the community. I’m baffled.
@ConfusedCountry (very)
I never claimed the US media unbiased. I said Al-Jazeera is not the stalwart of truth as you and others claim.
You write that we Americans need to be humble and hear all voices, not praise our freedom of the press, etc. Not sure where you are going with that idea but in the USA, you DO HAVE freedom of the press whether you care to admit it or not.
You have the CHOICE who you want to read or believe. Wheter its CNN or Fox News or any other media of your CHOICE. Can not say that about of other countries, who give you the one government outlet or if there is a “dissenting” voice, that voice must walk on eggshells.
No doubt there is bias in the US media but who says you need to listen to the media of the US. You can access other countries media to get the truth, again you have the freedom of choice, not many people have that right in other countries. Here in the US, you have right, left, center, hard right/left. Just its up to you to pick your poison.
Now to go off on a tangent about your drone strikes. You never read Mother Jones, CounterPunch, or Greanville Post do you? They talk about the US drone strikes all the time. Even the mainstream like the New York Times, Wahington Post, and Huffington Post have talked about the alienation and hatred toward the US by the Afghans and Pakistanis over the airstrikes. Granted you do not hear it as much under Mr. Obama’s Presidency compared to GW Bush which shows the obvious bias. Again, skip the mainstream and go to alternative sources to get better coverage.
The comment that “past the bullshit, we are the same”. Not sure what you mean, if refering ourselves as human beings, no dissent from me. If you mean this Disneyland “We are a Small World after All” then the comments shows naïveté about the real world. People have been hating and killing each other for all kinds of reasons in the past and will continue to do it in the future. Granted everybody wants peace but unfortunately there are people that are willing to hate and then kill you for “their reasons.”
Your kumbaya thinking reminds me of that Coca-Cola commercial that was made in the 1970’s that had that song, “I Want to Buy the World a Coke”.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8IwkR7qSXs0
@Mr. Tuttle
You make very good points I must say. In fact now that I think about it, points against drone strikes have been made in Mainstream media, but as you say just not enough.
I think we are both agreeing on the point that we have freedom of speech, and I think allowing Al Jazeera would only broaden our options to hear others’ points of view. I am not saying that they are not biased themselves, only that it would be good for us to hear their (biased) side.
As far as all of us being the same, I really mean it in the most general sense–us as humans. I am willing to say that 99.9% of all people in the world don’t want war and don’t want to kill any one even if they hate us (or we hate them).
I will also admit that maybe I am a bit naive (or wishful thinking) but I think your Coke commercial was spot on. I remember that commercial and sometimes I feel exactly that way. Very insightful on your part.
I think we agree for the most part and are arguing the same point of view, but even if we disagree, you are obviously an intelligent person and I hope you continue to share your thoughts on this site. (and elsewhere). The world needs more thought inducing comments. There is enough insanity being “puked” out. Intelligent thoughts like yours matter.
Let me get this straight, Glenn Beck, a U.S. constitutional stalwart who defends traditional American values, is not aligned with Gore’s point of view, but al Jazeera is?
That alone speaks volumes.
As does this: Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1.
Wait a sec – according to our Divider in Chief, Class Warfare Specialist B.H. Obama, aren’t “the wealthiest Americans” supposed to pay their “fair share” (as if the top 10% of U.S. earners paying 71% of U.S. federal income taxes even before the new Obama tax hikes take effect isn’t enough of a “fair share”)?
Al Gore. Tax dodger. An inconvenient truth.
Boot him from the BoD, Apple before he taints the company even further with his selfish hypocrisy.
I see the Rabid Republicans are out in force twisting the truth as they always do.
Glenn Beck is a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a homophobic, racist, genocidal, megalomaniacal, malevolent shock Jock bully.
Is that the American values you talk about?
“Rabid Republicans are out in force twisting the truth as they always do”
“Glenn Beck is a petty, unjust, unforgiving….”
Good dichotomy you got going there…..ass.
It fits!! Delusional as he is.
I’m not a fan of Glenn’s. He bores me. So does Shaun Hannity, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t right in many instances.
The problem I have with Glenn is every time I catch some of his show, it is all doom and gloom, and then a few months or years later, that ‘delusional’ crap starts to happen.
When he started preaching about gold, socialism, class warfare, and the Constitution being ignored, I just got tired and moved on.
Now guess what….
Now that really is delusional….on your part.
The bit you say about …”gold, class warfare, and the Constitution being ignored”……
That didn’t JUST START happening! It started with BUSH a long time ago. Only NOW you want to recognize it?
Who said anything about when these things started or were recognized?
You obviously have never listened to Glenn and have no clue what he is about.
Your last sentence starts with “NOW”. Some other words that gave away the timing include “a few months later”, “starts to happen”. When you link “NOW” with a few months later that puts us around…….October, 2011.
You want me to go on? Thought not.
Yes, I do want you to go on. Just leave. The voices that told you that crap need to take you away.
No wonder you have hard time with reality, you make shit up.
Whatever you think you think of Glenn Beck is meaningless as it is quite disconnected from reality. I suggest you watch more than 15-second out-of-context clips of him via MSNBC if you’d like some perspective to go along with your demonization.
http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/01/02/did-glenn-try-to-buy-current-tv/
Bottom line: Fill in the name of virtually any American citizen this side of the incarcerated or terrorist bomber / Obama pal William Ayers or the militant, white-hating pastor / Obama mentor Jeremiah Wright, and their interests should be better aligned with Gore’s point of view than al Jazeera’s. That they’re not, is telling. Chillingly so, since this bloated, philandering, fear-mongering, lying, hypocrite nearly got elected U.S. president!
(Guess you got your revenge against America by bussing and bribing the Lib-created indigent to vote and vote often for Obama in two elections, though, huh?)
You are a real “Nut-Job”. I mean really…..do you think spreading FUD on Obama actually worked for you? You lost the last two elections really badly. Your FUD is no more effective as the FUD analysts spread on Apple.
BTW, if Gore had become president this country would have been a lot better off. Yes, Gore didn’t become president. Not because he wasn’t elected. That’s a misnomer, he didn’t become president because fear-mongering, lying, hypocrites in Florida defrauded the American people by destroying votes for Gore and disenfranchising the black American votes. As Bush said….”My brother promised me we will get Florida”. By hook or crook I guess.
Soon you will change your name to “First 2018 then 2020”.
“Seriously, Happy New Year to everyone and let’s all try to be nicer to each other in 2013!”
Remember when you wrote that on Monday? Ah, memories. . .
F’s resolution did not last very long, did it? No surprise. But F, I do encourage you to keep trying, along with the rest of the political posters on this forum (regardless of affiliation).
Lib created indigent? Then why did 8 of the 10 wealthiest counties in America vote for Obama?
Did Libs create women? You’re wife probably voted for Obama.
You and douche bags of your ilk should read more and listen to hate mongers less.
Anyone who believes Glenn Beck is ‘a U.S. constitutional stalwart’ and not a far right conspiracy nut selling snake oil to the low-info Americans needs a mental examination.
You crack me up!! I’m glad you guys lost so a knucklehead like you has no chance of assuming power over anything more than their own masturbatory fantasies.
The top 10% of income in America pays a fraction of the taxes that you do. If they don’t, they have the wrong accountants.
Al Gore invented the Internet. I don’t even know who this Al Jazeera guy is.
I did know a guy named Al in New Jersey once. I don’t think it’s the same guy.
The top 10% pay a lot of income taxes, tbone. As a percentage of income, their effective rate tends to be lower than that of middle class Americans because of the capital gains rate and other tax code provisions. But the total amount of income taxes paid by the top 10% is quite large.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1451
Why did he not wait till after the start of the year so he could pay the higher tax rates? Isn’t that supposed to be a good idea? And – is there anyone on this site who knows anyone who has ever watched Current TV?
never heard of it until I read this article.
So, Time Warner is going to drop the channel for political reasons, isn’t that kind of like controlling the news?
. . . what’s the emojicons for ducking. 😉
Gore began the “tax the rich” mantra, but insisted the sale of his worthless network be completed before the tax rates increased on Jan. 1. Typical liberal hypocrite, fool and liar (4 letter needed to spell “liberal”, which define the essence of the beast: L-I-A-R).
Gore is one stupid fsck.
Al Gore makes $100 million, with tax breaks, on Dec 31, 2012 and he is one stupid fsck.
You work for a living, I presume, for all I know you may live in your mommy’s basement, but how much money did you make on Dec 31, 2012 and what does that make you?
I made $1000 on Dec 31, 2012, in case you’re curious.
Who the fuck cares if you got your government bennies on December 31st, and that just happened to be $1,000?
You didn’t earn the money.
Wish I had a surprised look for this…but I don’t.
Now to counter the 400 Club we’ll have the Jihad Club.
Current started out with the right idea. they have great reporters who risk their lives to report the news (as do Al Jazzera reporters – some of whom have died) only to have the channel meter it out for every last nickel. Al Jazzera gives its news away for free.
Two things.
1. This is a huge stretch to call this Apple news.
2. Al Jazeera is as much a terrorist organization as Google is.
Wait a minute, that might be a bad example.
MDN frequently posts such barely-related or non-Apple news to get a good political flame war going… I think it amuses them. They CERTAINLY get longer threads, and it also brings out some who, for all we know, have never touched an Apple product in their lives (e.g. First 2010, Then 2012).
‘the legacy of who the network goes to is important to us and we are sensitive to networks not aligned with our point of view’
Arrest Gore as a domestic terrorist, detain him indefinitely without actually charging him, and move on.
We can charge Bush with war crimes while we’re at it.
+1
You won’t hear any complaint from me so long as both Houses of Congress – Republican AND Democrat are included in that charge.
Definitely add that SOB Cheney to the list.
“Sir, the plane is 30 miles away…….20 miles…….10 miles…..5 miles, Sir, does the order to STAND DOWN still apply?”
Cheney: “Did you hear me say any different? No? So STFU and let the plane crash”.
For those that don’t know….do your research.
Never heard of Current TV. Turns out I have it on my Verizon FIOS service (The web says it is Ch 192)
Assuming Verizon thinks I’m responsible enough (unlike Time Warner) I’ll check it out and make my own decision.
As far as the tax thing, let the first person who’s never taken a tax deduction throw the first stone at Gore.
+1
WB. A fine company to do business with. Always professional. Always first class. They demand that of those they do business with too. It’s a great relationship. We do things quite well out here on the left coast.
If USA turned back to republican dominancy at the last presidentials, America certainly would have been (again) much more terroristic than Al Jazzera’s news.
Wow, this story sure brought ’em out of the woodwork! Let’s rant about Jane Fonda too while we’re at it. 😉
Just curious Elephant Boy, in which state do you vote? Just wondering if it’s one of the states driving the info/tech economy?
“Fox News, the American news giant, has long tried to convince The World that it is a legitimate news organization, not a parrot of Christian Conservative propaganda or something more sinister,”
#Fact
Ha, The NYTImes reported that Gore (who is pro taxes) tried to get the deal done before Dec 31st so that he could make more profit.
And to top it off, that $100 million that he got was probably fossil fuel money!
I love these dems, they say and do the dardest things and give us so much entertainment in the process!
Now that’s rich hypocrisy…Al Gore sells to a news network owned by one of the largest oil producing countries in the world…how’s that carbon footprint Al?
I know this is MDN and facts aren’t really a top priority, but still, Qatar is mainly a gas exporter. Maybe you were thinking about Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.
Is it true that Glenn Beck made an offer to buy but Algore wouldn’t sell to him?
This 40 second video is the public reaction to Al Gore Conspiracy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUwzrO9sxWw
Mr. Gore should have been removed from Apple’s board long ago. He had no business experience and has been defrauding Americans for years with his completely debunked movie and personal excessive use of resources. Now we have another reason. He just took 100 million in oil money from an organization which supports terrorism and trashes America on virtually every broadcast. None of this qualities for a Board of Directors member,
I didn’t realize Al-Jazeera was a terrorist organization. Please enlighten us Mr. White.
I see the Rabid Democrats/Socialists are out in force twisting the truth as they always do.
Obama is a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a homophobic, racist, genocidal, megalomaniacal, malevolent shock Jock bully.
Is that the American values you talk about?
How ’bout them dogs!