Most reasonable folks bemoan the abysmal state of journalism in the United States. While there exists the odd pocket of excellence in local/regional print media, they are isolated from mainstream media, distinct and separate from mass, national consumption. If I refer to “TV Talking Heads”, everyone knows exactly what I mean and probably has a favorite parrot in mind.
In another week, we will be further diminished. NWI-TV will be leaving the air after 11 years of old-fashioned, professional news broadcasting on an international scale.
The CBC told staff at Newsworld International (NWI)…that it will shut it down on July 31, bringing an end to an 11-year-long venture that brought CBC journalism into the homes of many American TV viewers.
Newsworld International is a 24-hour global news and information channel that is available in almost 20 million homes in the U.S. through satellite-based distribution services like DirecTV. It’s also available through some digital cable providers.
In 2004, a group led by former U.S. vice president Al Gore bought NWI from Vivendi Universal. Gore said at the time that he wanted his new channel to aim at the 18- to 34-year old viewer.
Earlier this week, Gore outlined more of his plans for the channel. It will be rebranded and renamed as “Current” and will relaunch August 1 with a focus on attracting a younger audience.
What do the TV providers of America think about this?
Burman said it became clear during those discussions that the people running the U.S. satellite and cable distribution world think there are already too many news and information channels and that there’s no market for another international service.
Frankly, NWI was one of the few things that made DirecTV a real treat. They would broadcast their own news program at the top of the hour, and then have an english language broadcast from an international provider on the half hour. Great stuff…
Funny though that they don’t mind stuff the satellites full of shopping channels but yet there’s ‘no market’ for news and information. Sorry DirecTV, guess I go back to Comcast cable to get my CBC coverage…
Never heard of NWI, but there’s still C-SPAN.
This sucks. As an ex-pat Canadian, at least I could get my news in the U.S. None of the U.S. news services are even remotely good. Now I won’t be able to (unless I get an Expressvu satellite dish in Canada and sneak it across the border).
This seems so backwards – with new technology, we should be getting more access to other world viewpoints, not less.
This really sucks. NWI is the only news I watch. It’s better than crappy American news. I liked how they had news shows from around the world. Too bad though. The anchors were good too, like Terry Glecoff and Ron Izawa. It was professional and very informative. Now the only place I’ll have left for International News is the Internet…
What an atrocious ripoff to have mature, in-depth, rational reporting replaced by Al Gore’s teenage, shallow, talk-over approach. Why not start his own, rather than ruining the best thing on TV? What a shame!
This is a complete outrage. serious journalism replaced because it often differs from the US adminatration’s propaganda…shame on you al gore!
I thought Al Gore was mature, in-depth, rational? Plus he was a journalist.
Everyone pester Direct TV!
Since moving to the US from Canada a couple years ago, I’ve lost my fave radio station *twice* and now my fave tv station. The radio stations were also bought up and changed formats. Now they are “classic country” or “70s contemporary” stations a la Clear Channel. I will miss not just CBC but also ITV and BBC and “Deutcha vella” too.
In the words of el Reg: “Journalism: We’ve heard of it.”
I can’t tell you how profoundly disappointed I am over NWI going off the air. I’ve known this for a couple months but with the last week of NWI viewing, now I’m upset!
I am so disappointed that this network is about to be replaced by Current TV for programming specifically for the purposes of targeting a demographic group not known for much worldly insights and sensibilities. It’s also a further disappointed to know this was all spearheaded by Al Gore, a politician I used to respect (and continues to disappoint me), but now I feel this is more of a move to nab voters for his future political aspirations. This is not the kind of type of network and programming needed right now.
NWI was the only network to offer packaged programming in order to give your average American the opportunity to become more knowledgeable and understand the many issues from around the world. The reporting of news and human interest stories was done with unbiased competency, intelligence and sensitivity (and anchored by grownups and not perky airheads!)
It’s a shame there hasn’t been more of an outcry over this because with the demise of this outlet – in terms of world reporting from the non-American vantage point – Americans have lost another informational link to the rest of the world.
Thanks for carrying this information. Watching the last of NWI, there is no information about why this best-of-channels is closing or who is replacing it. CSPAN does not provide the connection of US citizens to the news the rest of the world sees. How can Al Gore know what he knows about the state of the world and help close the doors, isolating US citizens? I have watched CNN World Edition on NWI and compared it to the pablum offered on their US version. They (CNN)actually have 2 channels…..I guess it would be too embarrassing if the rest of the world saw our “Talking Heads”.
All that’s left are the nonprofits….and PBS is flailing. I hope LINK, which shows on both satellite systems, picks up some of those 50 journalists who pulled off the Incredible NWI and as much of their programming as possible.
I’m very disappointed to see NWI sign off. I watched the “farewell” show on Sunday and the presenters were classy and professional
right to the very end. As for this current tv stuff, it’s a good idea for a
weekly show on G4TV or MTV2 (why didn’t Al buy one of those channels?) but I can’t see it working on a 24/7 format.
Farewell NWI. I’ll miss the perspective this excellent channel gave on the true news of the world. While US outlets breathlessly cover Brad and Jen, MJ or the latest sensation of the hour, while our ‘hard news’ is just a succession of partisan hacks, NWI brought in depth reporting on the real news affecting the world.
There really is no other TV news source to turn to with the same depth…
NWI was my favorite channel. I’m Canadian, but it wasn’t about watching Canadian news. I was just as likely to watch German news as Canadian.
I get the impression that CBC tried to establish a new channel with DirecTV, but they weren’t interested in paying for it. The idea that the international news market is saturated in the U.S. doesn’t make much sense when there isn’t any. I suppose the real demon here is American apathy toward anything outside of the U.S., although I can’t say that the establishment has done much to fight it. Maybe watching international news is unpatriotic!
This is a tragedy and an outrage. The dismantling of free press and access to real worldwide news.
Government controlled media, nation-building invasions, stolen manufactured elections, what’s next? Is there anything next?
Al, I just want to know who YOU are taking orders from now?
extremely disappointing! this is one of the only reasons i have kept DIRECT TV because COMCAST cable charged a fortune for digital cable packages which included the NWI channel…and they did not offer it unless you got digital cable. i am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED and will probably cancel my subscription to DIRECT TV as now i can get other channels i watch through much cheaper institutions (and i must force myself to have anything good to say in their defense). one more strike against BORING american society that could care less about what happens outside their BORING little box and BORING little lives.
one of the most curious and disappointing aspects of the vanishing of this channel is that i tried to call up my cable subscription venues to ask “what happened to NWI…did it switch, or merge, with another channel?”. their response was complete bafflement…what NWI channel? we have no idea what happened… classic.
i will miss the simple little stories about life abroad and how people live and entertain themselves and the humanitarian stories about life in simpler, less technological, places in the world.
MOST UNFORTUNATE!
I talked to DTV.. several times in AUgust.. they kept sayin it was out of their control.. .I finally insisted on talking ot management and got the corporate office… indeed the same line.. out of their control…. when I pushed and asked for ANY internation news they might be adding… they said we have CNN.. OMG.. if that is their idea of international.. but I went on and said I really wanted an ouside the us view of news.. that I liked the Japanese NHK and German and even watched the ITV and CBC views to see alternate points of view.. she said well you get that with CURRENT… I have kept going to current becuase of my vesige muclel drift back to 366 when surfing and I have wateched the “POD CASTS” for the ADD generation but find them lacking in substance and the whole flavor to be very slanted politically… then just today I decided to do a search on both NWI and Current and indeed find out this is AL GORE TV… a LOT has fallen into place… and DTV is losing a customer. It is so sad to loose such perspectives by others and to loose those detialed views into others lives that are missing … even from PBS. SAD
How depressing, fluffy “Current” replaces the most balanced and informative news on the air! Please tell me there is some way to pressure CBC, DTV, NWI, Al Gore, or whoever else is involved, to remedy this situation and make the rest of the world’s perspective on the news once again available to those of us in the USA who want it. We are not all myopic and ethnocentric. Please, somebody make this right.
Please bring back NWI or something like it. Americans are interest in News from other countries!
Let’s organize a club of NWI fans. Something like a support group. Probably it will help to bring back my favorite Bill Cunningham and Glecoff. We must do something about it. It was the only unbiased and not corrupted news channel on TV. If you have any ideas please post them here.
John Park, NY