We Bid Adieu to Al Jazeera America and I Have a Sad....

[Land of Enchantment]

Since I have totally given up on the MSM I usually leave the teevee on AJAM. Tonight they had a panel of some of the best journalists on staff and they held a round table discusion that was worth its weight in future Pulitzers and other awards....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Al_Jazeera_presenters

Al Jazeera America[edit]
Josh Bernstein
Jonathan Betz
Chris Bury
Richelle Carey
Melissa Chann
Joiee Chen
Eboni Deon
Lisa Fletcher
Lori Jane Gliha
Tony Harris
Sheila MacVicar
Adam May
Nichole Mitchell
Antonio Mora
Soledad O'Brien
Randall Pinkston
Christof Putzel
Ash-har Quraishi
Morgan Radford
Josh Rushing
Roxana Saberi
Cara Santa Maria
John Seigenthaler
Michael Shure
David Shuster
John Henry Smith
Ray Suarez
Stephanie Sy
Phil Torres
Ali Velshi
Mike Viqueira
Sebastian Walker
Jacob Ward




They officially go off the air at midnight, EST. Arrrrr. I did find this link about a week ago and we will see how that works out....


http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/herring-networks-eyes-buying-al-jazeera-america/146956

One America News Network (OAN) parent Herring Networks is exploring buying the shuttering Al Jazeera America to get carriage on cable systems.
"Al Jazeera America and One America News Network (OAN) launched within a few months of each other," OAN parent Herring Networks told Multichannel News. "The latest ratings information from third party Rentrak shows that One America News Network has over four times the ratings [of Al Jazeera America]. We are inquiring about the opportunity to acquire Al Jazeera America," he said.
The idea would be to replace it with OAN and thereby secure carriage (just as Al Jazeera tried to do when it bought Al Gore's Current TV). Al Jazeera has 60.8 million subs, according to Nielsen. "We would replace it with One America News Network," he said, which has "a superior brand and ratings."

Here is a question---What would happen if we could put support behind a new news group that would embrace all of these fine journalists (and NadineB) and Ed Schultz, Dylan Radigan and all the others whose REPORTING has been silenced by the MSM?

What do you think?

[Land of Enchantment]

2. Welcome to DU, the last bastion of thoughtful and insightful discourse on the interwebs.

If you can manage to stick around for a while you will learn not only some manners but also information that will prove to be valuable to you down your so far dreary path. Thanks and cheers!

[Jim Beard]

19. I liked them about once a week.

I can tell you they were months ahead of the US media when it came to information concerning the build up of the Ebola Virus. A long time before the US market. I try to choose my sources. I literally hate Texas news because of the jackasses in charge. The Texas Tribune makes it tolerable. I like to look around.

[Feeling the Bern]

26. Okay, six posts, so I will explain. Rude posts early in your membership will alert MIRT

Tact goes a long way here, sometimes.

[Land of Enchantment]

28. You might have to explain MIRT....Thanks for having my back!

I was banned from the Hillary group on my third post. I didn't know the rules about groups.


And Don't Call Me Nancy! (Inside joke with Don't Call Me Shirley)

Thanks, friend.

[Feeling the Bern]

37. Now you are accusing me of being a Fox News lover? Enjoy your stay, buddy boy.

[Rex]

3. The GOP owns the airwaves, so nothing liberal survives.

The Hate Machine pretty much took over the M$M decades ago.

[Land of Enchantment]

5. Actually, the corporations own the airwaves

There have been many insightful posts and threads here illustrating that fact. Time Warner, Viacom, Disney etc. but my question is how can we CHANGE it? Repeal of the Telecommunications Act? I want ideas! C'mon, how would you change it?

[Jim Beard]

20. They are making too much money on this and all elections.

Do elections like England and restrict the time period of campaigning. That's a start uh.

Free internet in the US.

[Armstead]

45. Start with anti-trust actions against monopolization

and otehr regulations to encourage more diversity of ownership of the media and

[kentauros]

4. OAN must not be on Dish Network.

Either that, or, like Dish loves to do with non-MSM networks, it's scattered across the grid and in some dark corner no one ever looks. Because until this post, I've never heard of it. And yet, it supposedly has four times the ratings as Al Jazeera.

I loved AJM, partly because it was like watching how news was presented 10-20 years ago, and partly because it had the reporting quality of those same older news stations and shows.

[Land of Enchantment]

7. We have DirecTV and they carry

Free Speech TV and Link but not RT. Dish carries RT! I had never heard of OAN until I found that link. I used to watch Current until they went down. I am old enough to remember Huntley and Brinkley (!) as a child and Bill Moyers who has now retired...

[kentauros]

9. I'm old enough to remember them, too :)

Dish has FSTV and Link, but again, they're relegated to the numbers in the four digits, where they know no one will look unless they are truly diligent.

I don't watch RT, but did notice Dish also carries a state-run Chinese "news" service. Haven't watched it either, other than to figure out what it was. Dish does carry a popular European network (which I can't remember at the moment) but you have to subscribe to their International package to get it.

[1939]

38. Huntley/Brinkley

were on NBC which was owned from its inception in the 1920s by defense electronics contractor RCA (later bought by GE who sold the network to Comcast). Corporate ownership of the networks has a long history.

[Avalux]

6. OAN is a right wing news organization - awful stuff.

I'm sad about AJAM closing it's doors too, it's adding insult to injury if they're bought by OAN.

[Land of Enchantment]

8. Do you have link? I can't find much info

about them. As far s I know they are the only ones interested...

[Avalux]

12. I've *tried* to watch the channel.

They say they're objective but I think they may even be more to the right than Faux.

Here's their wiki page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_America_News_Network

[Land of Enchantment]

15. They are not right for sure. Their news is more global

and they focused on the clusterfuck of Libya and Syria but also covered Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, you name the country, they covered what was going on there. At first it was a shock to my system but I looked forward to knowing about what was going on in the rest of the world. The coverage of Climate Change and Global Warming was thorough and fact based. The evening they covered the awful Ferguson riots was reported by real journalists on the ground. Sorry you never got into it but I assure you they were the best.

[Avalux]

41. I was talking about OAN, not Al Jazeera America.

I loved to watch AJAM.

[Little_Wing]

10. They will be missed in my household

Were they doomed by their name? That's what I feared. Excellent, in depth news.

Was thinking the other day what a kick-ass network could be constructed from all the good journalists currently shunned by MSM.. Keith Olbermann, Dan Rather, Melissa Harris-Perry etc. Wish I could turn on my TV tomorrow and see it appear.

[Land of Enchantment]

11. I think that was a huuuge part of it, Little Wing and

they never advertised on the MSM so they were unknown. I wrote to them and suggested a few changes but think it was doomed from the start...
I almost lost it today with the story about Libya followed by the story about the Syrian refugees. They covered everything on the planet. Just to check my emotions I went to CNN and MSNBC and it was all Trump. We have lost.

I would love to see a channel with all the fine reporters you mentioned--got any ideas?
How do we accomplish this?

[Little_Wing]

16. It will require "mass quantities" of money

To paraphrase the Coneheads. We need a billionaire (ala Murdoch) or a monarchy (see Qatar). But even Qatar's pockets weren't deep enough to break the stranglehold created by the cable universe.

If only there were a path to financial solvency available via the internet, but as we have discovered, monetizing news content online seems a struggle even for well-known journalists like Glenn Greenwald. Young people are happily not relying on traditional news sources; still, in-depth journalism requires a financial investment few sources are willing to fund.

Is there a fundraising resource like ActBlue established to disperse support to struggling alternative news sources? That would not solve the issue of a daily cable network however, for those of us still interested in that particular medium.

Personally, I support Free Speech TV with my meager income, and perhaps with greater financial security they can step into the breach. They suffer from lack of exposure in many markets, but are definitely a step in the right direction.

[Land of Enchantment]

23. I agree with everything you said. Greenwald has had to struggle and I wonder

what will happen to the gifted ones we have just lost. I understand the problems associated with supporting web news but given user (me) complications I have not been able to make it work. I'm no dummy and can kick ass on technology I used during my career but lot of this is beyond me. We are all smart and if we can find a way to use our smarts collectively I have a gut feeling we can find way to take back the media and restore it to its better days. There is something about Adams I want to look up and will pm you when I find it. Heard it on Hartmanna few days ago...

Remember this?

[Kilgore]

13. It all comes down to $$

AJ could not attract enough eyes to their programming to justify the advertising rates needed to turn a profit.

The same applies to FSTV and Link but just not to the same degree, so they get relegated to the basement channels.

No one has figured out a format that works yet. Given enough time someone will.

[Land of Enchantment]

17. Yeah, they never advertised on CNN or MSNBC or even Faux. Part of the problem

was total ignorance and immediate bigoted response just to the name of the channel. I donate to both LINK and FSTV because they are viewer sponsored and I just wrote off those donations on my taxes. YES. I am a recovering accountant and Yes, you can. We get what we invest in and I am hoping we can all figure out a way to take back some of the airwaves. Thanks for your reply.

[Kilgore]

43. You may find this interesting. Background on the

Management decision to pull the plug.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/22/media/al-jazeera-america-what-went-wrong/

Here is a snip,

"Viewers either couldn't find the channel or didn't bother to try. Some hours were lucky to have 10,000 people watching. On State of the Union night, AJAM averaged 64,000 viewers while CNN and Fox News had over 3 million each. Said a senior executive, glumly but realistically, "The journalism was there. The audience was not there."

[slipslidingaway]

14. What a shame, they will be missed! nt

[Land of Enchantment]

18. You have been around a while--got any suggestions? Seriously, ssaway,

share your hopes and thoughts with us!

[slipslidingaway]

27. Ha ...

are you calling me old?



I am guilty of not always following my own advice! I first learned that Al Jazeera America would disappear from my 25 year old son, the story among some of his generation was because 'Americans cannot handle the truth.'

We need to try and break away from the old comforts of corporate media. While phone banking to NY tonight for Sanders one man said, well I was planning on voting for Clinton, I have only heard of Sanders recently. Tell me more ... I suggested he not get all his info from the corporate media, said that I lived in a neighboring state and we probably watch some of the same channels which do not always give an accurate view.

If we want to hear what CM is saying we can, unfortunately, read DU. But it was not always that way, when I first joined attention was paid to what was going on in Congress, posts to call Congress on one bill or another, links to how members voted etc. But that slowly changed.

My hope is that people will take a critical look at issues and think for themselves.

[Land of Enchantment]

33. Yes, you are old here given your over 20K posts, that's all

We have three-mine is 36, spouses are 29 and 21. All girls. And they all love Sanders. One emailed today about Zika asking what is going to happen in the south to women who have no abortions services. They GET it. Your son is smart and I think he has his ear to the ground as we used to say. They get a 'whiff' of anything insincere and they are out the door.. Snifferanators. Wish I had it too!

OK, holding sick cat and trying to find something nice for you---

He picked this one: He is on the right.



What is CM? I had to google CP.

Thanks, see you manana I hope.

[slipslidingaway]

35. What an adorable picture ...

hoping all goes well with the sick kitty!

You're old too!!!

I think many young people 'get it' because they are not paying attention to the CM (corporate media)

[Jim Beard]

21. All it takes is one organization

I can't give political news all my time, I do have a life. During the the day I listen to Bill Press and Stephanie Miller. It would be nice to have one hour of a good quality news program. If they want some more talk programs OK but thats all I need.

I do like to hear the other side .....just to keep everyone honest.

[Land of Enchantment]

24. Thanks, Jim,

you must be on west coast! I love Bill Press on DTV but he comes on here at 4am for two hours then the last hour is at 3pm. I leave the tv on for background and weather mostly.

Good news, the snow peas came up today along with the leeks. It is interesting gardening at 7,000 feet but we are hanging in so far.

My point is to ask how we can bring back real news. Thanks for your reply.

[Jim Beard]

34. Would you believe I am from Texas

I have been getting the recording for each segment 12 - 15 minutes each about 2 hours after broadcast. I subscribe to dar.fm which is $50 a year for 5 programs a day which can be 15 hours per day.

I download them to my cell phone. The download is fairly quick.

[WhiteTara]

22. Oh NO. I thought we had until the end of the month!

[Land of Enchantment]

25. I did too WhiteTara, they must have opted out sooner but I suspect a deal was made

but who could that be? Thanks for your reply.

[WhiteTara]

42. There is a huge blank where they used to be

my morning isn't the same.

[klook]

29. Outstanding channel - very sorry to see them go. (nt)

[Land of Enchantment]

30. They are showing the group again--the last ten minutes of their time on air.

Please, can anyone find a link? I am caring for a very ill pet and cannot stay on computer or search. Thanks for all you replies.

[slipslidingaway]

31. Al Jazeera America is no longer available. Thank you for watching. :( nt

[renate]

32. like WhiteTara, I thought we had till the end of the month

So this is a big shock. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Al Jazeera and I will miss it terribly. I felt like a real citizen of the world when I watched it. They actually had reporters going into little towns and villages all over the world--not just the big cities--and reported the news directly instead of repeating it from Reuters or AP or whoever.

And since I thought we had at least a couple more weeks to hope, I was really thinking that they'd announce a big SURPRISE! We're replacing Al Jazeera America with Al Jazeera English! I mean, why not? (And also I was hoping that they'd keep as many of their AJAM presenters as possible.) But I am immensely cheered by the article at your link. (It even says that if they buy it they would try to absorb the AJAM Washington and DC staff as much as possible!!!!) Thank you so much for finding it! I feel better knowing there's at least some hope.

It is SUCH a shame that they kept the name Al Jazeera. That decision alone really sealed their fate--it just took a little time for it to happen. If they'd just called it AJ AM it might have earned its keep and stayed on the air. It was so, so, so good.

[Javaman]

39. I read it every morning. I will very much miss it. :( nt

[Javaman]

40. Al Jazeera english version.

http://www.aljazeera.com/

[Enrique]

44. why is Peppermint Gomez not on that list?

she was my favorite.

[Octafish]

46. Fewer voices mean smaller Democracy.

Especially when it comes to ideas.