Mediagazer: Are Current TV's Slots on Cable Distribution Worth $500 Million? (CEPR)

2:40 PM ET, January 4, 2013

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Gore Went to Bat for Al Jazeera, and Himself — Al Gore at the Current TV studios in San Francisco in 2005. He said Al Jazeera's coverage was “thorough, fair and informative.” — Al Gore's Current TV was never popular with viewers, but it was a hit where it counted: with cable and satellite providers.

Discussion: Mediaite, TVNewser, Kirk LaPointe's …, Politico, Business Insider, Erik Wemple, @ggreenwald, The Raw Story, The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:

Al Jazeera Embraces Cable TV, Loses Web — Al Jazeera used the Web to build a following in America, which it hopes to exploit on cable television through Wednesday's purchase of Current TV. But to keep cable operators happy, Al Jazeera may have to make a difficult bargain: Giving up on the Web.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and MarketingVox News & Trends

New York Times:

Al Jazeera in America — Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network, has long wanted to gain a bigger American television audience, and it may have finally found a way to do that by buying Current TV. But as the deal was being signed, Time Warner Cable announced it would immediately stop carrying Current …

Discussion: Mediaite, Cision, The New Republic, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times and DealBook

David Zurawik / Baltimore Sun: Why Al Jazeera buying Current is a good thing for media, country

Tom McGeveran / Capital New York:
Why is the ‘Times’ editorial board making a cause out of Al Jazeera?

Discussion: Media Decoder and The Daily Caller

CEPR: Are Current TV's Slots on Cable Distribution Worth $500 Million?

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:
Cybersquatters Hop On AlJazeeraAmerica.com

Discussion: Politico, FishbowlNY and GalleyCat

Reuters:
Al Jazeera's new channel struggles for U.S. distribution

Discussion: SNL Financial and PandoDaily

Jeanine Poggi / AdAge:
New Cable Channels Keep Coming Despite Content-Cost Crackdown

Discussion: B&C and Globe and Mail

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder: Questions Linger for Hosts After Sale of Current TV

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
Bad news for cord cutters: Al Jazeera America won't be live streamed online

Discussion: MediaShift and Bloomberg

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:
Al Jazeera will face hurdles to succeeding with Current TV

Discussion: @rafat and ABCNEWS

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Time Warner Cable Says It Will Keep ‘Open Mind’ on Reinstating Al Jazeera

Discussion: TVWeek.com, Inside TV, Mediaite, AdAge, The Huffington Post, Politico, The Week, The Daily Dish, @jackshafer and DealBook

David Carr / Media Decoder:

New York Observer Hits Reset Again, Names Ken Kurson New Editor — It will come as something short of a surprise to those who follow the Manhattan media scene that The New York Observer has picked a new editor. After all, the newspaper has already had five editors in the seven years since Jared Kushner …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, FishbowlNY, @tomscocca, New York Magazine, @ledbetreuters, @johnjcook, @espiers, @weareyourfek, @weareyourfek, @koblin, @espiers and @felixsalmon

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

New ‘Observer’ editor Ken Kurson is a media veteran with family ties and, possibly, an abstemious hand — The New York Observer's new editor-in-chief is a political consultant, longtime professional associate of Rudy Giuliani and close friend of Jared Kushner, who owns the paper, and his father Charles.

Mathew Ingram / paidContent:

Why Tumblr and BuzzFeed are on a collision course in 2013 — The decline and fall of traditional media empires is one side of the ongoing turmoil within the industry, but the other side is the rise of disruptive new players, and two of the most prominent names in that category are BuzzFeed and Tumblr.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg, Fortune, Adweek, Hollywood Reporter, AdAge, Forbes and Elapsed Time

Tom Gara / Corporate Intelligence:

Inside BuzzFeed's Old Media Business Model — After BuzzFeed's announcement of a new $19 million round of venture funding yesterday, we had a chat with Jonah Peretti, the company's co-founder. He was pretty tight-lipped about the numbers - what the company is worth, or how much revenue it's pulling in …

Discussion: Guardian, Digiday and Business Insider

David Carr / Media Decoder:

Andrew Sullivan on Going Back to Future as an Indie Blogger — On Wednesday, Andrew Sullivan, one of the pioneers of the blogging Web, decided to end his relationship with The Daily Beast, and by the way, with advertising as well. His decision made quite a splash, in part because others wonder whether …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Pressthink, Mashable!, The New York Observer, Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog, The Atlantic Online, 24/7 Wall St. and paidContent

Ann Friedman:
Journalism Is Personal — You probably read this post at Gawker …

Discussion: The Buttry Diary, VentureBeat and PSFK

Associated Press:

China says New York Times reporter was not expelled, says his visa application was incomplete — BEIJING — The Chinese government said Friday that it did not expel a New York Times reporter who had to leave mainland China this week after he failed to obtain new press credentials.

Discussion: mediabistro.com and New York Times

Associated Press: Journalists confront China censors over editorial

Evan Osnos / The New Yorker Blog:
China, the American Press, and the State Department

Discussion: TechCrunch and Hillicon Valley

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Washington Times lays off staff — The Washington Times has just laid off newsroom staffers in a move that's been in the works for weeks. New top editor David Jackson and new Times CEO Larry Beasley broke the news at a meeting of approximately 20 employees, according to one person who attended.

Discussion: Poynter and @d1scourse

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Press Gazette axes quarterly magazine for online-only edition — Editor of trade title for journalists said company plans to focus resources on weekly digital edition, iPhone app and website — Press Gazette is to become online only after 44 years as the print trade title for UK journalists.

Discussion: Jon Slattery and pressgazette.co.uk

Hollywood Reporter:

MPAA Picks Tech Exec as COO — CEO Chris Dodd, announcing Diane Strahan's appointment, cites her digital experience. — The MPAA has a new chief operating officer: Diane Strahan, a former executive at Neuster who also worked at AOL. — CEO Chris Dodd announced the appointment of the 20-year tech veteran in a news release Friday.

Times of India:

Police to register case against Zee News for airing interview of Delhi rape victim's friend — NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday night decided to register a case against Zee News after the channel aired an interview with the male friend of a Delhi girl who was gang-raped here three weeks ago, a crime to which he is the lone witness.

Discussion: India Ink, ZeeNews and News Track India