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| During job search, Ted Koppel sez he listened to al-Jazeera pitch |
| 2006-01-15 |
| Ted Koppel acknowledged Friday that he met with a rep from the soon-to-launch English-language al-Jazeera television network before deciding to work for Discovery Channel after he left ABC's "Nightline." "I make it a habit always to listen to people first before I say no," Koppel told The Reporters Who Cover Television at Winter TV Press Tour 2006. "None of your business," Koppel snapped when a reporter asked what al-Jazeera had put on the table. The questions kept coming; Koppel got testier. "Come on!" he said, "I routinely meet with some of the nastiest people in the world. . . . I meet with terrorists, I meet with murderers behind bars." But, of course, not to talk about going to work for them, one reporter noted with, we presume, some degree of accuracy. Koppel said that he was "fascinated" by what the al-Jazeera rep had to say but that he and Bettag did not "entertain the idea for 38 seconds. I know it's fashionable just to look at al-Jazeera as a propaganda outlet for al Qaeda," Koppel said Friday, but "we have been covering the Middle East for many, many years . . . [and] al-Jazeera is a huge step up from where the Arab world's journalism has been over the past 40 years." Koppel said that it "may be possible" that al-Jazeera is "more inclined toward anti-American stories perhaps than American networks are" but that he suspects that will not be true of the new network "if they want to make any progress with their English-language outlet here in the United States." |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #5 Saudis donated $20 million to Harvard and $20 million to Georgetown Universities to fund an 'islamic studies' department. English language Al-Jazeera won't need any advertising. If the Saudis feel it furthers their foreign policy goals and spreads sympathy for Islam, Al Jaz will be swimming in dough. |
| Posted by: anon1 2006-01-15 10:43 |
| #4 I partly agree with anon1. If Al J plays their cards right they can get the Move-On.org audience, the Kos kids and many others to tune in. The interesting thing is who they will get to advertise on their station. |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-01-15 10:23 |
| #3 He wasn't offered Howard Stern-level money, that's why he declined. |
| Posted by: Raj 2006-01-15 10:18 |
| #2 oh they'll make headway. saudi millions buys the best marketing and communications experts money can buy. they'll appeal to young lefties. they'll float conspiracy theories. they'll appeal to arab americans and point them in the wrong direction. |
| Posted by: anon1 2006-01-15 09:10 |
| #1 "Koppel said that it "may be possible" that al-Jazeera is "more inclined toward anti-American stories perhaps than American networks are"..." Simply "more inclined" - is this an acknowledgement that American networks are also "inclined" to Anit-American stories? Is that "fashionable" too? |
| Posted by: Hupomoger Clans9827 2006-01-15 08:40 |