Posted on 01/04/2013 2:46:03 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Conservative America can't get enough of the story about liberal former Vice President Al Gore selling the Current TV network he co-founded to Al Jazeera. Or, as Fox News commentator Ann Coulter described it - "a foreign company that hates America."........
.......Despite what perceptions remain about its political bias, analysts say Al Jazeera has developed a strong journalistic reputation with international audiences as it reports from places that U.S. outlets, with their scaled-down overseas reporting staffs, barely touch.
Aside from the media implications, some analysts wonder how Gore, a part-time San Francisco resident who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership on climate change, could sell to a network that is funded by the government of Qatar,.......
But the organization's reputation is changing. Al Jazeera has won praise from such diverse sources as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, GOP Sen. John McCain and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a note to Current employees Wednesday, co-founder Joel Hyatt wrote: "Powell told Al (Gore) that Al Jazeera is the only cable news network he watches." Hyatt told employees that Al Jazeera and Current share many journalistic values........
.....Middle East expert Edward Haley, a professor of international relations at Claremont McKenna College, said Al Jazeera English has on occasion been a bit reticent about covering issues that might be unflattering to the Qatar government that funds it. But overall, Haley praised its coverage of Middle Eastern issues.
"It definitely carries some baggage. But it's not like being an arm of a political party - like Fox News is," Haley said. "Overall, its positives far outweigh its negatives."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Ya know what? If I would just wake up and agree with left leaning folks I would be a better person. do I need a sarc?
Those who hate the Jews, a rapidly growing population, love Al Jazeera.
There’s plenty of people who won’t care including some who post to FR regularly.
Most amazing that Algore can make so much money on lies and empty promises.
Isn't that how all libtards operate, including dear leader?
It will always be Al Gore TV
What analysts??? I would love for these Lefties to name names. Just like when Obama says ‘economists all say’ and then pretends that economists say his agenda is financially sound. But Pravda-Media USA never questions anything the Libtards say. They are to blame for the downfall of this country.
I have watched al Jazeera’s English-language broadcast many times, and I like it. It’s high quality reporting and waaaaaay better balanced than CNN or BBC.
Al Gore has thrived as green-tech investor
".....Just before leaving public office in 2001, Gore reported assets of less than $2 million; today, his wealth is estimated at $100 million. [Since the sale of "Current," I guess that can be amended to $200 million and counting]
Gore charted this path by returning to his longtime passion — clean energy. He benefited from a powerful resume and a constellation of friends in the investment world and in Washington. And four years ago, his portfolio aligned smoothly with the agenda of an incoming administration and its plan to spend billions in stimulus funds on alternative energy.
....In last week’s presidential debate, Romney criticized the $90 billion that went to promote green technology, saying a number of businesses owned by Obama campaign contributors were winners.
....Gore, 63, divides most of his time now between his home in Nashville and a St. Regis tower apartment in San Francisco, where he can visit his West Coast investment partnership and see his new girlfriend, an environmental activist. (He and his wife of 40 years, Tipper, separated two years ago. She lives in the $8.9 million mansion they bought in 2010 outside Santa Barbara.)
....Gore had won a Nobel Prize and Oscar for his 2006 book and movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Supporters had begun hailing him as the single most effective spokesman on the threat of climate change. With his prize winnings, Gore created the Alliance for Climate Protection, an advocacy group that ran ads warning of looming climate change. In the process, he gained high-placed admirers and business associates in Silicon Valley.
Gore entered the investment world full time by co-founding Generation Investment Management [GIM], a London-based investment firm. He was the type of high-profile partner sought by Goldman Sachs executive David Blood, who had headed Goldman’s $325 billion asset management division and was looking to start a new firm. The pair launched GIM in 2004 to back companies focused on sustainability, including clean energy, water scarcity and poverty....
....Gore also found himself to be a sought-after star among elite Silicon Valley investors. In late 2007, he became a senior investment partner at one of the world’s most successful venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins. He was combining forces with longtime friend John Doerr in a joint mission to spur clean tech.........
As Obama was preparing to take office, it was clear his public agenda supporting clean energy aligned with Gore’s personal agenda. Obama held a highly publicized meeting with Gore at transition headquarters in Chicago to talk about energy policy. Later, Obama closely echoed several of Gore’s talking points and his plan for public investment in clean energy. Obama even adopted Gore’s campaign catchphrase for the effort, “Repower America.”
“This is a matter of urgency and national security,” Obama said. “We have the opportunity now to create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to repower America, to redesign how we use energy and . . . make us competitive for decades to come — even as we save the planet.”.....
Gore’s investments coincided with the government’s largest investment in clean tech. A full 10 percent, estimated at $80 billion to $90 billion, of the 2009 stimulus package was devoted to clean energy.......
....Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee and is a leading critic of clean tech funding, said Gore’s portfolio “is reflective of a disturbing pattern that those closest to the president have been rewarded with billions of taxpayer dollars . . . and benefited from the administration’s green bonanza in the rush to spend stimulus cash.”......."
________________________
GIM: Generation Investment Management LLP co-founders: [Al Gore and David Blood [headed Goldman’s $325 billion asset management division] LINKS to their advocacy and editorials.
"The $683 million "Climate Solutions Fund" piece of GIM has made direct, minority investments in a number of cleantech firms including SolarCity, Tigo, Ausra, and SMA." Source Oct. 4, 2012
More on Gore and political profiteering ....handsomely paid to sell the Left's message
>>”It definitely carries some baggage. But it’s not like being an arm of a political party - like Fox News is,” Haley said.<<
And which political party would that be?
I would agree as well...after Fox News and the business channel...Al Jazeera is next on fair and balanced, with MSNBC, CNN and BBC at the tailend of balanced. But I’d also say that all three are at the rock-bottom of viewers across the US. If you gave a guy the choice of watching gold-prospecting show in the History channel or CNN....I’d pick the History channel.
“Dubious U.S. public?” Dubious about what??? We`re talking about the largest dumbed-down, self-absorbed TV market in history. Put a raunchy reality show and a celebrity-hen yakfest in front of their faces and you`ve got `em hooked for life.
I agree! CNN is definitely “must-not-watch TV.”
It would be a real shame if their antennas some how fall apart or their stations signal gets jammed. Technology has a way of becoming useful at times. (sarc)
If anyone thinks Algore got $500 million for just a TV outlet, they need to dig a bit deeper...
Kind of interesting that Glenn Beck wanted to buy them out and he was turned down with prejudice.And I like Glenn Beck and he is a big supporter of Israel.
I can’t wait for the first Muslim pro-gay marriage report. It’s sure to be a hit throughout the middle east.
Patriotic Americans should do that to MSNBC, not al Jazeera.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.