CurrentTV Takeover - Does All US Media Hate Al Jazeera English Or Just Bill O'Reilly?

Last week, after the announcement that AJE had bought Al Gore's Current TV (for something like $500 million), and with it access to as many as 40 million American homes, Time Warner immediately announced it was dropping Current from its cable roster.


The move was reminiscent of the Comcast decision not to carry AJE here when the network first launched in 2006.


It's been a pattern. The country that, in the name of free speech, allows flag-burning, Ku Klux Klan marches and protests at military funerals by religious zealots hoisting "God hates fags" placards decided years ago that AJE represents the kind of speech it simply cannot tolerate.


"It's insane that a country as important and as vibrant and diverse as the United States would have such a banana republic approach to news and information," says Tony Burman, the former CBC editor in chief who spent years as AJE's managing director, trying to win cable TV carriage in the U.S. market.


"The fear-mongering has been surreal."

CBC News - Al Jazeera America, test case for an open society - Full Article

The reason CBC Canada seems to be mildly chastising US journalism probably has to do with this "fear mongering" they are talking about. Sound like an exaggeration? Well the sentiments seem pretty accurate after seeing Bill O'Reilly's attitude towards the recent buyout of CurrentTv by Al Jazeera. Here's what he had to say.

O’Reilly warns Current TV hosts: Al Jazeera will ‘behead you’ if you misbehave

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday warned the hosts of Current TV that they were risking decapitation if they decided to stay on after Al Jazeera takes over the network.


O’Reilly took multiple jabs stereotyping Muslims as he pointed out that several Current TV personalities are reportedly leaving the network ahead of the takeover in April and other employees had allegedly expressed disappointment to media outlets like the New York Post.

“There are reports that Current TV people don’t like this because they’re going to get fired and [Al] Gore makes all these millions of dollars,” he explained. “Joe Behar, they’re going to slap a burka on her. She’s not going to like that at all.”

Fox News correspondent Juliet Huddy explained to O’Reilly that many Current TV employees felt more comfortable with Al Jazeera taking over then network than CBS because they were more likely to keep their jobs.

“The problem is that CBS, if you misbehave, they might suspend you for a day,” O’Reilly insisted. “At Al Jazeera, they behead you.”

Bill proceeded to bash Al Gore for the sale of CurrentTv on his show calling him a hypocrite with a silver spoon in his mouth, which is debatable but obviously the standard sensationalism that Bill O'Reilly seems to serve up on a regular basis.


http://youtu.be/PKnTTpr7IL4