Gavin Newsom won't work for Al Jazeera

[alp227]

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who's also the star of a Current TV interview show, won't be working for Al Jazeera.

Word is Newsom decided to part ways with the San Francisco cable TV network even before it was acquired this week by Al Jazeera.

" 'The Gavin Newsom Show' was a great opportunity for which he is grateful. The LG's original agreement with Current is set to expire this month and he had already decided on moving in a new direction," according to a statement from his office.

(...)

Some were wondering if Newsom, another champion of climate change, would catch flak working for a Middle East-based entity awash in fossil fuel wealth.

There might have been legal issues: Had he wanted to work for Al Jazeera, Newsom, as a public official of the state of California, could have been confronted with legal questions over working for a firm owned by a foreign government, sources tell us.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Gavin-Newsom-won-t-work-for-Al-Jazeera-4168930.php

Yikes. Two awkward situations right there, like working for a foreign government-owned enterprise.

But wait a minute. Didn't America have http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030324fa_fact2" target="_blank">a president owned by a foreign royal family?

[KharmaTrain]

1. Jennifer Grandholm Also Is Parting Company...

...and I suspect everyone else will be gone by the time the deal closes. Sad to see Current reach the end of the road...

[MADem]

2. It would be nice if those leaving CURRENT could make weekends worth watching on MSNBC. nt

[pinboy3niner]

3. They'd have to be convicted of a crime and sent to the pen for that to happen

[MADem]

4. Lockup...with Gavin Newsom and Jenifer Granholm!

Eliot ducked out with the Young Turks...he managed to pull a few strings...!

The reason they run those LOCKUP exercises on MSNBC is because they are SO cheap. One guy, flipping a switch, is all that's needed. No camera crews, lighting/sound guys, stage hands, makeup, producers, directors, etc. Just one guy--and they sell plenty of advertisement, AND they pull viewers from Faux. The episodes can be filmed by anyone, and the narration is done by any old schmuck who is on salary--"You--get in the booth and read this shit!"

It's the thing that kept MSNBC afloat during the lean years...but now I think they should branch out. They should do a few hours of weekend political programming...even if they do the "Washington This Week" model like that former Jesuit, McLaughlin, bloviates over...a show they tape on Thursday or Friday that goes over the past week in politics, with a bit of mature discussion (not like that piece of shit CYCLE--unwatchable, that) amongst people like Spitzer, Granholm, et.al.

I always thought MSNBC would be the PERFECT vehicle for a cheap show that I'd watch faithfully--a round up of "local news" from around the nation. I'm not talking about one of those quickie things, I'm talking a two hour show that starts out in Alaska and ends up in Florida, with every NBC affiliate sending in their "top story" of the week, but it has to be a LOCAL story, not a national one--and doing their own editing if it is a story that unfolds over several days. It, too, would be cheap to produce, cheaper than LOCKUP, really, and it would be INTERESTING. It would have limited shelf life--they could run it several times over two or three days, but then, poof, it's done--but even at that, I think that kind of show would generate some viewership. All you'd need is a couple of people to gather the material, edit it, and then you'd need someone to sit down on Friday and read the blurbs that string the thing together. I think it would be a real winner and it would steal viewers from Faux and CNN--people LOVE local news, especially if it's from far away; it gives them a window on the world in a very small town kind of way.