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Former Vice President Al Gore, and chairman and co-founder of Current, an upcoming independent cable television network, takes questions from television critics during a preview presentation of Current Monday, July 18, 2005, at the 2005 Summer Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. Current TV debuts August 1. >>>>>
Gore: New TV Channel Won't Be Partisan
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Former Vice President Al Gore, co-founder of a new television channel launching next month, said he's shunning politics - and so is his media venture.
"I consider myself a recovering politician. I'm on step nine," Gore told a meeting Monday of the Television Critics Association.
The 2004 Democratic candidate for president was asked if he was concerned the 24-hour news and information channel, called Current, would be perceived as having a political slant. It's scheduled to launch Aug. 1.
"I think the reality of the network will speak for itself. It's not intended to be partisan in any way," said Gore, Current's co-founder (with businessman Joel Hyatt) and chairman of the board.
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<<<<< Former Vice President Al Gore, chairman of the board and co-founder of Current, along with television producers and hosts Laura Ling and Gotham Chopra, present the upcoming independent cable television network, during a preview, Monday, July 18, 2005, at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. The Current TV network debuts Aug. 1.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aimed at an 18-34-year-old audience, Current has loftier goals in mind than party politics: Gore said it will engage young people in the "dialogue of democracy" by providing stories that interest them, and will involve them in the channel's content. Using Web parlance, Gore said he wants Current to be the channel of choice for young adults. "We want to be the television home page for the Internet generation," he said. Viewers will have the opportunity to contribute their own filmed reports and features, such as a look at underground youth culture in Iran, said Gore and David Neuman, Current's programming president. The young staff of reporters, producers and hosts includes Gotham Chopra, son of self-help guru Deepak Chopra and Laura Ling (Channel One News, MTV). Preparing to launch Current in 20 million homes on DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Comcast in limited markets "has been a blast," Gore said. The five-year plan calls for it to reach 50 million homes. He declined to talk about a current hot topic in Washington, the speculation about Bush administration figures Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby and the federal investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's name. "I'd rather not," he said. "I'd rather keep the focus on Current." My Way News ~ Associated Press - Lynn Elber ** Gore: New TV Channel Won't Be Partisan
