Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Former Al Jazeera Anchor Blasts Al Gore re Selling Current TV


Very interesting article by Don Irvine of AIM (Accuracy in Media) on Al Gore selling his Current TV network to Al Jazeera.

"Former Al Jazeera English anchor Dave Marash blasted Current TV on Sunday, saying that the network failed in part because it was “bush league,” and accused former Current TV owner Al Gore of crony capitalism over his methods in launching the network.

Marash
: Well, first, it looked bush league. Its production values were simply not competitive with the production values of CNN or MSNBC or Fox News or Al Jazeera. Secondly, it didn’t have a unique role. MSNBC was already the leading liberal funhouse mirror to Fox News on the right, so there was no compelling reason for people to tune into Current TV.

Marash is right on this point. It looks like Gore and his partner Joel Hyatt weren’t really interested in building a viable long-term liberal cable network as much as they were in creating a network that would allow them to cash out at a hefty price, which they did.
Kurtz then asked Marash about the sale of Current to Al Jazeera and the reported $70 million that Al Gore will make on the deal.

Marash responded by citing it as an example of “how crony capitalism has completely captured American capitalism,” and said that Gore was able to get Current TV on the air under extremely favorable terms because he was the former vice president and as such might be able to do favors for people who agreed to these contracts."

READ MORE

More at Changing Worldviews
Sign Up for my Free Email Newsletter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Get Show on iTunes
Listen to my Radio Broadcasts on this subject here Broadcast page



No comments: