Gore Sells Currents TV to Al-Jazeera

[Ben]

For $100 million. They got way ripped off. I can't believe Gore still has such devout fans among the more left-leaning. The guy is only about money in every "cause" he promotes.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/01/03/al-gore-nets-reported-100-million-in-sale-current-tv-to-al-jazeera/

[TechMan]

I see Time Warner cable dropped Current TV like a brick after the sale.

[freakazoid]

I actually really liked watching Current TV. Back when I was living in South Dakota I would watch it quite often.

[cordex]

They supposedly paid $500 million.  Gore walked away with $100 million.

[ArfinGreebly]

Nice PR sourcing coup.  And they picked it up for cheap.

Imagine:  the ethnic Arab expats and various Muslim communities will now have access to "unfiltered home news" via whichever cable outfit carries that channel.

Current TV has crap ratings.  As the demographic of viewers changes, the content will change (or perhaps vice versa), and the viewership will increase, bringing up the ratings, and so on.

Over time, the channel will morph into an English language "legitimate" conduit for whatever content is "deemed appropriate" for that demographic, and I think it's probably not extreme to imagine that there will be a significant propaganda component.

If Gore has retained any part of the ownership, he will see increasing revenues as the viewership grows.

And the "target demographic" won't have to fret about their "home news" being filtered by American news organs.

One of my "friends" was crowing about the addition of another "legitimate" news source to counter the extreme bias of "Faux News" and restoring balance to the Force as it relates to news.

I was not -- and am not -- as sanguine about it as he is.

[HankB]

. . . One of my "friends" was crowing about the addition of another "legitimate" news source to counter the extreme bias of "Faux News" and restoring balance to the Force as it relates to news . . .

The problem for lefties is information propaganda saturation.

With the left already having ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, etc., there's only so much tripe truth they have time to watch or read; someone watching Al-Jazeera for their alleged "news" is going to be switching from one of the other networks, not watching it in addition to what they're watching now.

[dm1333]

Sooooo, is this an upgrade for Current TV or a downgrade for Al Jazeera?      I also heard that they pushed to get the deal done before 01 January to avoid paying higher taxes.  Not sure if that is true or not.

[brimic]

Wow! Al "Jazeera" Gore accepted dirty, global warming, polar bear killing oil money?

Color me shocked.

[Ben]

Wow! Al "Jazeera" Gore accepted dirty, global warming, polar bear killing oil money?

Color me shocked.

And apparently Glenn Beck had put an offer in, but Gore refused to sell to him.

[Scout26]

I was not -- and am not -- as sanguine about it as he is.

It also means "Bloody". 

[Lee]

Sounds more like a pay-off or bribe to me...with something tangible offered in turn.
Although, I do visit the AJ website sometimes and it's not too bad. I doubt there exists an international news outlet that isn't somewhat biased against the US...at least from our perspective. I'd check it out at least once.

[RoadKingLarry]

Probably be less biased than the MSM we have now...

[Ben]

Although, I do visit the AJ website sometimes and it's not too bad. I doubt there exists an international news outlet that isn't somewhat biased against the US...at least from our perspective.

I would submit they are often less biased against the US, or at least closer to unbiased than our own news networks. I often find myself on the Russian Times, Pravda, and occasionally Al-Jazeera websites. Pravda in fact, had a very good opinion piece this last week on protecting gun rights in the US that I have to remember to post when Politics opens back up.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I would submit they are often less biased against the US, or at least closer to unbiased than our own news networks. I often find myself on the Russian Times, Pravda, and occasionally Al-Jazeera websites. Pravda in fact, had a very good opinion piece this last week on protecting gun rights in the US that I have to remember to post when Politics opens back up.

yup  sad but true

[Bigjake]

I would submit they are often less biased against the US, or at least closer to unbiased than our own news networks. I often find myself on the Russian Times, Pravda, and occasionally Al-Jazeera websites. Pravda in fact, had a very good opinion piece this last week on protecting gun rights in the US that I have to remember to post when Politics opens back up.

This.

 Russia Today is one of my daily reads.  

I know nicknames are verboten here,  but Al-Gor pretty much wrote itself...

[slingshot]

As I understand it, the deal is for $500 million of which $100 million goes directly to Algore.  It's great for a certain political party as now they can collect massive foreign contributions from an American company.    It is also great for Al Jazeera as now they have a unfiltered public national outlet for whatever propaganda they desire to distribute.  It remains to be seen how many cable companies carry the channel, but if they pay the cable companies to air them, I believe they will.  Greed.

Islamists are here for the long haul and as long as they have middle east oil money behind them, they can try to influence our nation and it laws.

[Ben]

This.

 Russia Today is one of my daily reads.  

I know nicknames are verboten here,  but Al-Gor pretty much wrote itself...

I have to give props to KGbsquirrel on RT. I think it was him that posted a link to a stroy by them a good while back and that's when I first discovered them.

[Perd Hapley]

I have to give props to KGbsquirrel on RT. I think it was him that posted a link to a stroy by them a good while back and that's when I first discovered them.

Um-hmm. KGBsquirrel. Spreading Russian Propaganda.

[Balog]

I actually really liked watching Current TV. Back when I was living in South Dakota I would watch it quite often.

You know, just the other day I was wondering if the Navy had beaten the Communist-sympathizer streak out of you. Guess not

[freakazoid]

You know, just the other day I was wondering if the Navy had beaten the Communist-sympathizer streak out of you. Guess not

  Am I still known for that?  In the beginning I considered myself an anarchist/commy sympathizer. That ended a few years ago. I'm really liking Rothbard now. 
I was into Current TV during my commy years though. But it wasn't really spewing out much left leaning stuff. If I remember correctly there was even a firearms friendly episode.

[K Frame]

Seems odd that a man who received the Nobel Peace Prize would sell his stake to the mouthpiece for a bloodthirsty movement that is bent on wiping America and Israel off the map.

Oh, wait, silly me. They share his hatred of American values. Of course he'd sell to them!

[cordex]

I was into Current TV during my commy years though. But it wasn't really spewing out much left leaning stuff. If I remember correctly there was even a firearms friendly episode.

Propaganda that you register as true is less remarkable.  Many people who agree with what is being said can watch Bill Mahr, Bill O'Reilly, Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity and say with heartfelt belief "What bias?"

[RevDisk]

Al-Jazeera is pretty decent, as news services go. Above say, Fox or NBC definitely. Best of the ME news sources. Just ignore anything it says about Qatar or Saudi Arabia. Pravda, RT, etc are pretty decent. Just discount what they say about Putin. CNN can sometimes be, just ignore what it says about US politics. BBC can be as well, just ignore anything it says about US-UK politics.

[slingshot]

Geraldo Rivera commented on Gore's selling Current TV on the morning Fox today.  He ran into Gore and Al Frankin before Frankin won his senate seat.  Gore said something condesending about his "ending up" at Fox.  Geraldo said Gore is a hypocrite.

[HankB]

Seems odd that a man who received the Nobel Peace Prize would sell his stake to the mouthpiece for a bloodthirsty movement that is bent on wiping America and Israel off the map.  . . .

In some years, hatred of American values seems to have been the criterion for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some examples:

1994 - Yassir Arafat
2001 - the U.N.
2001 - Jimmy Carter
2004 - Wangari Maathai (claimed AIDS was created by the West to decimate Africa)
2007 - Al Gore
2009 - Obama
2012 - The European Union