California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s also the star of a Current TV interview show, will not be working for Al Jazeera for a couple of reasons — including some interesting legal questions that might have arisen, sources close to Newsom tell us.
San Francisco-based Current, the cable TV network founded by former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, was sold to Al Jazeera this week.
The political fallout has been interesting, as conservative commentators go nuts about Gore’s association with what they’ve called an “anti-American” network funded by the oil-rich government of Qatar.
Some were wondering if Newsom, another champion of climate change, would catch flak working for a Middle Eastern-based entity awash in fossil fuel wealth.
(SFChron/SFGate comrade Joe Garofoli and I explore the topic of Al Jazeera’s public image — perception and reality — in a piece today.)
But we digress: it’s all a moot point.
There might have been legal issues: had he wanted to work for Al Jazeera, Newsom, as a public official of the state of California, could have been confronted with legality of working for a firm owned by a foreign government, sources tell us.
Still, the CA LG – even before the Current acquisiton — had decided to part ways with the network, we’re told.
But Newsom won praise for his work as a host on the Current gig, and has become a regular on Sunday talk shows. And he clearly enjoyed the format and the forum on TV.
In other words: stay tuned.
