Critique of Al Gore's Current TV

[Adam's Apple]

About what we could expect from Al.

Dumbing Down the News One Pod at A Time
By Bronwyn Lance Chester, The Virginian-Pilot
September 8, 2005

Question: What would happen if “Saturday Night Live’s” Wayne and Garth received a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? Answer: “Current TV.”

For the hopelessly unhip stuck in an era of camera-less cell phones and Palm Pilots--so 20th century--“Current TV” is a 24-hour news channel founded by former Vice President Al Gore, and aimed at impatient, Internet-savvy 18- to 34-year-olds. Cox Hampton Roads’ viewers can’t get Current; DirectTV satellite customers can. It’s hook? “You are the viewer and producer.”

Like the inner workings of a Valley Girl’s mind, “Current” flits from topic to topic via short news segments called “pods”, many of which are sent in by viewers, interspersed with the most popular Internet searches of the moment. For the attention-challenged, a bar at the bottom of the screen tells viewers--who can also vote for what goes on TV--how much time remains in each pod.

“Current,” which debuted Aug. 1, has pompously touted itself as “a tapas bar of ideas,” and “an outpost in a locked-down television landscape.” Instead, it’s more like ADHD TV.

Being on the cusp of the network’s demographic, I’ve tried — honestly — to give it a shot. But every time I’ve channel-surfed to “Current,” its “news” more closely resembles a narcissists’ convention held at Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

for full article:
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=91798&ran=180853