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Al-Jazeera buys Al Gore's Current TV, now Al-Jazeera America

By April MacIntyre Jan 3, 2013, 19:37 GMT

Al Gore - New York City, NY, USA © Laurence Agron / PR Photos

Current TV, the progressive media company founded by Vice President Al Gore and his business partner Joel Hyatt, was purchased by up and comer media conglom Al-Jazeera.

Prior to the deal, conservative yakker Glenn Beck's company The Blaze approached Current about buying the channel last year, but was shut down by the liberal leaning network.

According to a press release for the acquisition, Current TV is now part of the Al-Jazeera company, the Qatar-owned news channel that mirrors Current TV's mission to "give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling."

Al-Jazeera will relaunch the channel as Al-Jazeera America, which is not sitting well with Time-Warner who released a statement: "Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible."