A state lawmaker is calling on cable and satellite TV providers to dump the new Al-Jazeera America news channel from their basic programming packages or face a potential boycott.
Fishkill Republican Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor sent a letter to Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network in an attempt to get them to change the way it charges for the American arm of the Qatar-based news organization Al-Jazeera, which he called "notoriously anti-American, anti-Semitic and misogynistic."
Al-Jazeera America began broadcasting last week on channels formerly occupied by Current TV, the failed progressive cable news outlet co-founded by Al Gore. Time Warner, the largest cable provider in the Capital Region, isn't currently carrying Al-Jazeera America pending negotiations.
Lalor cited past criticisms that Al-Jazeera's Arab-language operation is slanted against Western interests and overly sympathetic to Islamic extremists. He also pointed to leaked documents in which U.S. diplomats bemoaned Qatar's lackluster efforts to quash militants within its own borders.
READ MOREhttp://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Boycott-threat-over-Arab-TV-news-4763088.php
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