Israel gives CNN International the boot

Oops, here is the URL for that news item from Arutz-7:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=27693

I remember I saw a report on Israel about a year ago. It actually had a "disclaimer" before it ran, i.e. the following report does not represent the opinions of CNN etc.
The report was about Israel's 'atrocities' and was narrated by a guy with a heavy Arabic accent.

that's incredible.

RE: CNN lies bumperstickers...

I requested some back on the original thread. I have not received them. Do they come from Israel or from USA?

Now if we could also kick out Terrible Ted, the commie who founded CNN, confiscate all his Montana property (one half the state) and send him off, via air drop, to exile in Iraq, I would be more satisfied.

That's a step. Now how can we get CNN removed from the cable in North Texas?

How about dumping them from Dish Network too!

Now how can we get CNN removed from the cable in North Texas?

Y'all mind including Kentucky in that request?

A-hOLe

That the Israeli cable companies want to replace CNNI with FNC really says something, because there's no such thing as "FNC International."
Not entirely accurate. Rupert Murdoch has a international news service, Sky News.

They'll be taking the regular American feed, with the never ending coverage of Samantha Runnion, shark attacks, beached whales, Robert Blake and Enron ... The Full Geraldo, if you will, stuff that will be at best mere curiosities to the average Israeli. These companies are literally so disgusted with CNN International that they want to replace it with a news channel that will only be of interest to its customers when it's directly reporting on or from Israel (and any impending Gulf War II, of course).

1. You are correct that Fox is tabloidesque and America-centered. I wish it were a right wing CNN instead of a balanced MSNBC.
2. It may not do that badly. Most Israelis have family or friends in the US. Moreover, Israelis do follow American politics and affairs.

The really sad thing is that most of CNNI comes right out of Atlanta just like domestic CNN. You'd think that would be enough to at least water down the more extreme Euro-lefty biases of CNNI, but it's not. I guess it must really pay to have an open socialist bias when you're broadcasting to the rest of the world. Give the uneducated paleolithic viewers paleolithic programming, and you get more ratings.

They are pretty much the only game in town. They have monopolies in many countries. To do so, they make sure not to offend the Arabs and communists. As for the politics of CNN-I, it matches those of the Neo-socialist internationalists.
I would love to see Sky News become a right-wing competitor.

A-hOLe

there ya go!

I agree that CNN is blatantly anti-American and anti-Israeli, and that they don't even try to hide that fact, but I worry that this reeks of censorship. Now matter how worthless CNN is, the people there still have a God-given right to express their views freely and openly.

Do you have a right to broadcast? No, because there are only a few broadcast channels, and your name isn't in the Constitution assigning you one. Does CNN's ownership have a right to be listened to? Nobody does, unless it's the warden in a prison.
"Censorship" is what it takes to provide a clear channel for a licensed (government-favored) broadcaster.

"Way overdue. CNN has done more to foster violence in the middle east than any international news organizations with the exception of Arab state sponsored propaganda and disinformation (flagrant lies). It's good to educate the ignorant but to constantly feed them with lies is abuse on a worldwide level. These news(?) organizations are breeding hatred and contempt and if the truth never gets out, we will find ourselves surrounded by billions of belligerants.Kinda scary." What goes around comes around.

FoxNews in the US is much better at covering the Middle East from the Israli point of view. Unlike CNN International, FoxNews gives plenty of time to interviews and stories that lean in Israel's direction and help attract conservative Americans (many of whom are interested in Israel for religious prophecy reasons).

FoxNews also spends more time on the details of attacks against Israel, such as the university bomb this week, with much more in-depth pieces that "put a name and face" to the victims for American audiences. CNN International does not help the Israeli cause in the least with its long pieces on the accident involving the American-made F-16 jet strike recently that killed a few women and children. If one took a stopwatch, and timed the coverage... CNN clearly gives too much time to the Palestinian victims as opposed to the Israeli victims. If CNN were allowed to continue in Israel, it would only damage the Israeli cause even further, not only in Israel but also around the world. It's wise to remove any dissenting press or journalists located in Israel if the Israelis are to win this conflict. As a symbol of democracy in the Middle East, it's important for Israel to protect herself with actions such as shutting down a troubling cable news service.

(IsraelNN.com) Israel's Cable TV Commission today approved cable companies removing CNN from their menu should they decide to do so.

FNC is not a replacement for CNN. Sure I like listening to FNC better than CNN, myself. FNC is not 24/7 and Global. You may want to throw out CNN to make a statement, but I'll bet it doesn't happen in Israel, unless there are more people like you that would cut off their nose to spite their face.

The anti-CNN campaign has bore fruit in Israel.

This fruit may be borne, but I predict it will not be removed.

I've kicked CNN out of my home, and all the alphabet media a little over four years ago. My complexion is clear, never had a bad hair day since, lost ten pounds, and my IQ went up 17 points.

I'd like a new car, I could use a raise, and my dog misbehaves more than Boston terriers usually do. Also, I'm trying to start my own religion for tax exemption, but am having trouble attracting followers.

Would kicking CNN out work for me?

I don't know about the dog, but dropping CNN will make you much more attractive to the world at large, might even pull in a few followers.

Israel Govt. Says Cable Companies Can Remove CNN

Thu Aug 1,11:06 AM ET

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's government on Thursday approved a request from the three cable companies to remove Cable News Network (CNN) from their systems due to the high cost of carrying the U.S.-based global news network.

The cable companies petitioned the Communications Ministry's Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting -- which regulates the industry -- after negotiations to extend CNN International's contract when it expires in November failed to reach a settlement.

Ram Belinkov, acting chief executive of Golden Channels -- Israel's largest cable operator -- said the cable firms cannot afford to pay CNN's asking price any more since revenues have dropped in the past two years following the addition of digital satellite TV provider YES.

He said that privately held Golden Channels, for instance, will post a net loss of $150 million in 2002, with negative cash flow of more than $200 million.

Tevel and Matav Cable Systems Media are in similar financial distress.

"We can't afford CNN anymore," Belinkov told Reuters, declining to reveal CNN's asking price or how much Golden Channels was willing to pay.

"We gave them a proposal of the maximum we are able to pay," he said. "If they meet it we will not take them off. But so far it looks like they don't want to meet it."

Israeli cable companies have 1.15 million subscribers, while YES has 350,000.

Officials for CNN, a division of AOL Time Warner Co. unit Turner Broadcasting System, declined immediate comment.

But on Wednesday, Ron Ciccone, Turner Broadcasting System Europe senior vice president and managing director for the Middle East lashed out at the cable companies for blaming CNN for their financial problems.

"They must take responsibility for their fiscal mismanagement and stop scapegoating CNN," Ciccone said in a statement.

"This has not been a negotiation. It's been an attack campaign against CNN," he said. "Months ago, we offered an extraordinarily generous offer to the cable leadership. We offered to meet them halfway. Their only response was to attack CNN and try to censor our broadcasts.

CONTENT NOT AN ISSUE

The cable council in a statement said their decision was not because of CNN's content. CNN's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has come under criticism from many Israelis, including those in government circles.

It said the cable companies must find a replacement for CNN if the channel is dropped.

"There are many people who have an opinion how CNN broadcasts and cover the conflict," Belinkov said. "Sometimes I am uncomfortable, but we are not censors and we have no intention to be censors. Our own preference has nothing to do with the decision. It's pure economics."

Belinkov said CNN is the most expensive of the four news channels currently available in Israel. Britain's BBC World and Sky News have been available for years, while the U.S.'s Fox News Channel was added last month.

"CNN thinks its power in the market allows it not to reduce prices to a level we could pay," Belinkov said.

CNN will remain on YES, but Belinkov suggested that YES can afford more since state-owned Bezeq Israel Telecom owns almost half of the satellite system.

Belinkov also said negotiations with U.S. sportschannel ESPN were going more smoothly. "ESPN seems more responsive," he said, responding to Israeli media reports that cable systems would drop the channel.

Wish we could give CNN,ABC,NBC,CBS&PBS the boot here in America.

I agree that CNN is blatantly anti-American and anti-Israeli, and that they don't even try to hide that fact, but I worry that this reeks of censorship. Now matter how worthless CNN is, the people there still have a God-given right to express their views freely and openly.

It's not censorship. CNN has a right to blather on about anything they want, and people have a right to not purchase their channel. You're proposing people should be forced to pay to listen to extreme leftist rantings in order to not be accused of censorship?

If the government banned CNN, that would be censorship. If a cable/sat provider chooses to no longer pay to receive the CNN feed, that's the free market choice.