Ex-VP Gore criticizes corporate sway over media in book, defends Current TV sale to Al-Jazeera
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore is defending the sale of his television channel to Al-Jazeera, saying the news organization is hard-hitting, especially on climate issues, which is his passion.
The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera earlier this month struck a deal to buy Current TV for $500 million. Gore told The Associated Press Tuesday that he had no reservations about selling the cable news network to Al-Jazeera.
He says he considers Current TV to have been a success in that it won awards and was profitable each year.
Gore in his latest book titled, "The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change," makes only a fleeting reference to Al-Jazeera. He calls it a "feisty and relatively independent" satellite network.
He also takes aim in the book at corporate media for "suffocating the free flow of ideas."
