# Al Gore sells out to Al Jazeera **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080 "2013-01-04T17:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/21 "2013-01-04T19:13:41Z")
I saw an article that said some of their shows had 42,000 viewers. I don’t understand paying $500 mil for that. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/22 "2013-01-04T19:17:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > It is more likely that TWC dumped Current as to get more money from the new owners. > > This should be in the “my claim to fame thread”, but I happened to be one of the 127 people in America who watched the channel, and one of the 3 who put it in my list of favorites. 😉 1. You forgot to count my wife and me. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/23 "2013-01-04T19:17:50Z")
I don’t think they bought it for the current line-up. They’ll probably put on their own shows. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/24 "2013-01-04T19:28:20Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Really? Al-fucking-Jazeera, the terrorists’ favorite mouthpiece? Al Jazeera is a serious news network, considered more trustworthy in its journalism worldwide than, say, Fox News. Now that’s a propaganda mouthpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/25 "2013-01-04T19:37:42Z")
I’m in agreement with **Second Stone**. OP, you may want to actually read Al Jazeera before you go parroting that stupid crap you hear on Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/26 "2013-01-04T19:44:36Z")
Surely they will call their channel “Jaz” and explore ways to make its content palatable to a broad cross-section of Americans. It will not be viewed as an evil left-wing news source by the end of next year. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/27 "2013-01-04T20:04:19Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Really? Al-fucking-Jazeera, the terrorists’ favorite mouthpiece? > … > I think whatever respect I still had for Al Gore has evaporated. I’m afraid I don’t keep up with the Dope as much as I clearly should, I don’t know your posting history, so you _may_ well have just pulled the grand-daddy of all whooshes on me and all the other commenters in this thread. But taking your comment at face value, you… … … no, I just can’t. You’re NOT serious, are you? I don’t suppose you could back up your assertion that they’re a terrorist mouthpiece with something a little stronger than the observation that ‘Al Jazeera’ is Arabic (for ‘The Island’, apparently)? Unless you misunderstood that Al Gore has financed an Arabic remake of [The Island](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/), in which case I accept your logic, but ‘terrorist’ is surely too kind a description\*. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > And good on “The” Gore for taking profits. Snerk. 😃 \*cheap joke, and I actually quite liked that movie, please don’t hurt me. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/28 "2013-01-04T20:08:59Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Surely they will call their channel “Jaz” and explore ways to make its content palatable to a broad cross-section of Americans. It will not be viewed as an evil left-wing news source by the end of next year. They should make Cops Bahrain, or something similar, and I’d watch. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/29 "2013-01-04T20:13:54Z")
Interesting interview with [Dave Marash](http://www.cjr.org/the_water_cooler/dave_marash_why_i_quit.php?page=all)as to why he left AJE from a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/30 "2013-01-04T20:31:02Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I haven’t seen this mentioned on the Dope yet. Al Gore has [sold his Current TV channel](http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/al-jazeera-said-to-be-acquiring-current-tv/) to Al Jazeera for $500 million. > > Really? Al-fucking-Jazeera, the terrorists’ favorite mouthpiece? By all accounts, Al Jazeera isn’t interested in any of Current TV’s content; they just want a US cable channel so they can broadcast their own content. I’ve read one report which says that Time Warner dumped Current TV from it’s lineup immediately after the sale. > > I think whatever respect I still had for Al Gore has evaporated. Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar, which seems to be among the most pro-US of all the Arab governments. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/31 "2013-01-04T20:42:03Z")
Oh, poor Glenn Beck! [He didn’t even get to bid on CurrentTV](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/03/glenn-beck-purchase-current-tv-report_n_2402273.html). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/32 "2013-01-04T21:17:34Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Really? Al-fucking-Jazeera, the terrorists’ favorite mouthpiece? Have you ever actually watched Al-Jazeera? Your opinion seems to be based on nearly complete ignorance of the network and what it represents. Personally, I think news on Al-Jezeera is likely to be more objective and less biased than Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/33 "2013-01-04T21:35:29Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar, which seems to be among the most pro-US of all the Arab governments. From what I can tell, the government of Qatar does not own AJ outright but has helped finance its operations to a significant degree. They may have a huge block of controlling stock, though. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/34 "2013-01-04T21:53:04Z")
I think the hardest part of the OP to believe is that he _did_ respect Al Gore up until this announcement. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/35 "2013-01-04T21:59:37Z")
Al Jazeera English is already available on cable in the US (at least for me.) So what does this acquisition get them? Does Current actually have any programming with higher than a zero rating? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/36 "2013-01-04T22:00:34Z")
I wish he had sold it to MTv or VH1 and they renamed the channel Al Gore Rythyms. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/37 "2013-01-04T23:17:50Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Al Jazeera English is already available on cable in the US (at least for me.) So what does this acquisition get them? Does Current actually have any programming with higher than a zero rating? It’s not the programming it’s the channels on cable plans. Al Jazeera is currently available in only a few areas, this will expand their audience and turn us all into terrorists or something. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/38 "2013-01-04T23:38:22Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > turn us all into terrorists or something. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/39 "2013-01-04T23:50:44Z")
I’d love to have access to al Jazeera English. I was so impressed by Marine Corp spokesman [Josh Rushing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Rushing) in the documentary about the channel _[Control Room](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391024/)_. He left the Corp after a 14 year career, and has become the channel’s own Anderson Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080/40 "2013-01-05T03:26:53Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > He left the Corp after a 14 year career, and has become the channel’s own Anderson Cooper. So, Gore sold out to GAY terrorists?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-sells-out-to-al-jazeera/646080.md?page=3)