Al Jazeera America Going Off Air

[Shiranu]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/business/media/al-jazeera-america-to-shut-down-in-april.html?_r=0

The cable news channel Al Jazeera America, which debuted in 2013 to great fanfare when it promised to cover American news soberly and seriously, is shutting down by the end of April. The move was announced at a companywide meeting on Wednesday.

In a memo to the staff, Al Jazeera America’s chief executive, Al Anstey, said the “decision by Al Jazeera America’s board is driven by the fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace.”

“I know the closure of AJAM will be a massive disappointment for everyone here who has worked tirelessly for our long-term future,” he continued. “The decision that has been made is in no way because AJAM has done anything but a great job. Our commitment to great journalism is unrivaled.”

Al Jazeera America went on the air in August 2013 after it bought Al Gore’s Current TV for $500 million. It promised to be thoughtful and smart, free of the shouting arguments that have defined cable news in the United States over the last decade. But meaningful viewership never came, with prime-time ratings sometimes struggling to exceed 30,000 viewers.

A shame but also not surprising for two reasons; one being that I know people personally who refuse to watch anything with Al Jazeera on it because it is "Arab and therefor propaganda and lies!" (like any news channel isn't) and two that it's business model was not to have screaming hosts but rather people present the news in a traditional way. That business model is no longer (nor has it been in awhile) a successful one... we want people screaming and yelling.

[Mike Cl]

This is very, very sad for me.  I liked that news outlet.  In fact, I think it is/was the closest we had to unbaised news.  Damn!

[Sargon The Grape]

Well shit. I care for Al Jazeera as well as I do for most news media (read: very little), but I will credit them for viewing issues outside the polarized American norm. Outside perspectives are something we desperately need right now.

[pr126]

[lmgtfy]Al Jazeera + Lawsuits[/lmgtfy]

[drunkenshoe]

Pretty bad news for American society. Serious.

[Baruch]

Without the Internet giving us access to British and foreign media ... the US would be stuck in the 60s.  In spite of the Internet, we have been sucked back into the 60s (racism and militarism) ... but I still hold out hope because of the Internet.  Otherwise we fall back into our echo chambers of group think.

[SGOS]

According to one opinion on NPR, "The closing of Al Jazeera is linked to the price of oil, because the cost of running the station existed almost entirely on the largess of the Royal Family of Qatar, who isn't as rich these days, and wasn't able to gain as much Mideast influence in the US as it hoped it would."

[Baruch]

According to one opinion on NPR, the closing of Al Jazeera is linked to the price of oil, because the cost of running the station existed almost entirely on the largess of the Royal Family of Qatar, who isn't as rich these days, and wasn't able to gain as much Mideast influence in the US as it hoped it would.

Then the Qatar sheik is penny wise and pound foolish.