Al Jazeera acquires Al Gore's Current TV

The Qatar-owned media network Al Jazeera has agreed to purchase Current TV, which was founded in 2005 by former Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt.

"We are proud and pleased that Al Jazeera, the award-winning international news organization, has bought Current TV,” Gore and Hyatt said in a joint statement. “Since its founding in 2005, Current has grown into a national network available in nearly 60 million homes, offering thought-provoking commentary and Emmy and Peabody award-winning programming.

"Current Media was built based on a few key goals: 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, like Current, believes that facts and truth lead to a better understanding of the world around us."

According to the New York Times, Al Jazeera plans to use the distribution network of Current TV to create a new channel, called Al Jazeera America. The new channel will focus on international news.

Al Jazeera had launched an English-language TV channel in 2006, but struggled to obtain national cable distribution in the United States. Current TV reaches 60 million households in the U.S.