Since being elected president in 2000 (look it up if you dont remember), Al Gore has forged a career as a public speaker. The movie of his speech about the climate crisis, An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar for best documentary. The former vice president also serves as the chairman of Current TV, a next generation news service he cofounded. The cable network features political programming with hosts like Cenk Uygur and Jennifer Granholm. It offers an alternative to the ultra right wing Fox News, and serves as a breath of fresh air when compared to the staid but supposedly balanced CNN.
Gore presented the networks latest programming, anticipating the 2012 election cycle, to the Television Critics Association on Jan. 13. The critics must have reminded Gore of his days facing the White House press corps. We get the scoop on Snooki, so were not letting any fancy guys in suits get off easy.
Perhaps Gore is still a politician at heart. He took questions from critics but you might say he was filibustering to keep the conversation revolving around his talking points. Yes, he brought up the climate crisis on his own. Check your cable listings for Current TV and below for Gores thoughts on news coverage, Occupy Wall Street and the upcoming election.
Al Gore: Ladies and gentlemen, Im Al Gore, chairman and cofounder of Current TV. Ill just say by brief way of introduction, Current TV is the one and only independent cable and satellite news and information network in our country. We are providing politically direct programming. With the launch of Jennifers show, we will have a full primetime lineup, kind of Occupy Primetime. It is news and information from a progressive point of view. We have a lot to say. We are aimed at a younger demographic. You will hear more about this. 63 million subscriber households at present, and were enthusiastic, passionate, and excited. So have at it.
SuicideGirls: There are already so many political networks and shows. Why do you think theres an appetite for it and why do we need more?
AG: An illustration of how we think we have already brought something to primetime television that nobody else has, [is] when Occupy Wall Street began, nobody was covering it except Countdown With Keith Olbermann. Night after night after night he hammered away on it, harangued the other networks asking why is nobody covering this. Eventually they did. And now a few months later, the 99 percent/1 percent framework has become a key part of the political dialogue in America. You have Republican candidates in South Carolina accusing Mitt Romney of being a vulture capitalist. The whole dialogue has changed. And what we bring thats different is a consistent, progressive point of view, politically direct and hard hitting.
SG: Why do you think people will want to watch that kind of programming? The numbers indicate they like the other stuff.
AG: I disagree. There are some polls that say X percent are conservative, X percent are liberal, X percent of independent. When you dig deeper, what you find is that the one label that is used to self-describe people far more than any other in the U.S. today is progressive. And in fact, there has been a dawning in America of a new awareness that the way our system is working today does not help the average American get ahead. Theres a big shift underway out there. The concentration of wealth at the top, all the millions who are unemployed, in foreclosure, they watch the other networks and they see discussions of why to eliminate the inheritance tax and further cut taxes on the wealthy and cut unemployment compensation and privatize Social Security. They think its nuts, and theyre looking, many of them, for a place where they can see the dots connected in a way that makes sense to them and helps them participate in the conversation of democracy that must lead to better policies and solutions.
SG: Can you reflect a little bit on the evolution of Current and why do you think politics is really resonating with its audience right now?
AG: Well, I think there is this awareness in the country that things have to change. The through line is weve always been dedicated to an independent point of view, to present the truth as we see it without fear or favor. Were very proud of our Vanguard unit that has won every major award in television journalism: The Peabody, the duPont, twice the Best Young Journalist Under 35 in America. Were proud of our two Emmys, and we began with the user generated content, and we are continuing to use it, and we are going to integrate it into our coverage. But when we launched the Countdown with Keith Olbermann, we saw the opportunity to really speak in a politically direct matter, forgive me for repeating the brand there, but we feel strongly about it with a progressive point of view. And its not really being heard. You know, MSNBC has some liberal oriented shows in the evening, but their hosts have been told they have to put on former chairman of the RNC, and they have to put on Tea Party hosts, and some of the hosts were not happy about that but they have to do it. They start the day with a conservative show. Theyre all over the lot in the middle of the day, and then another prison channel on the weekend. Now, look. These networks add some value. I dont want to be just critical of them, but Im differentiating Current. We are politically direct. We do have a progressive point of view. It will be consistent 24/7. What about the climate issue? 98 percent of all the climate scientists in the world say that its real. Every national academy of science, every professional scientific society, its urgent. You gotta act. Here are a couple of wackos who are on the payroll of large carbon polluters [as guests on the show], so [the network claims] its 50/50. This is crazy stuff.
SG: Is there any truth to the rumor that Current might be for sale?
AG: No. Its not true. And were not for sale. We love what were doing.
SG: What are your thoughts as you watched the 2012 election gear up? Did you ever think it could be crazier than in 2000?
AG: Its pretty crazy, Ill tell you. Reminds me of a reality show where nobody gets voted off the island. And how many times has first place been claimed by a different candidate? I think seven times at last count, and now, as I mentioned, you have the frontrunner being described as a vulture capitalist and longtime conservatives running to his left. Its really an unusual campaign. I think that one of the reasons why politics in America has seemed to get crazier and crazier is that its now dominated by big money. Of course, the Supreme Court, with whose opinions Ive not always agreed, declared that corporations are people and that money is free speech. You all know this, but now youre seeing how it plays out with the casino billionaire dropping $5 million onto Newt Gingrichs so called Super PAC. Thats happening in a very pervasive way. And when you see all these candidates line up to deny science and say that up is down and black is white, its because that helps them get more big money.
When you see gridlock in the Congress where theyre willing to put the credit rating of the United States at risk and when the Tea Party Republicans are willing to drive the country towards actual bankruptcy in order to avoid any slight increase in the tax rates paid by the wealthiest Americans, thats because thats where their campaign contributions come from. They are bought, lock, stock and barrel. Part of what we want to do is to pull that curtain back and say, Here is who is paying the piper and thats why the piper is playing this tune. And we are desperately in need of that. When we went to war, more than 2/3 of the American people actually believed what turned out to be an absolute and total lie, that the person we were invading was responsible for 9/11. He wasnt, but here is the point. The fact that the American people were left with that false impression that led to the death of so many people, so much tragedy, still unfolding by the way, that is an indictment of the poor quality of television news overall where there are large and powerful interests exerting an influence to tone down the truth, and instead, give a pabulum out there. So we think we can help change that.
To close this, because weve been given the signal that we have to stop, Ill end where I began with the open. We pride ourselves on being independent. Its not just a word. Its not just a slogan. Its not just an identity. It is a reality that empowers us to ignore what corporate conglomerates might want. We dont answer to any powers that be. We do our very best to present the truth without fear or favor and connect the dots in a politically direct way from a progressive point of view, and I hope you all will enjoy watching. Thank you very much.
Gore presented the networks latest programming, anticipating the 2012 election cycle, to the Television Critics Association on Jan. 13. The critics must have reminded Gore of his days facing the White House press corps. We get the scoop on Snooki, so were not letting any fancy guys in suits get off easy.
Perhaps Gore is still a politician at heart. He took questions from critics but you might say he was filibustering to keep the conversation revolving around his talking points. Yes, he brought up the climate crisis on his own. Check your cable listings for Current TV and below for Gores thoughts on news coverage, Occupy Wall Street and the upcoming election.
Al Gore: Ladies and gentlemen, Im Al Gore, chairman and cofounder of Current TV. Ill just say by brief way of introduction, Current TV is the one and only independent cable and satellite news and information network in our country. We are providing politically direct programming. With the launch of Jennifers show, we will have a full primetime lineup, kind of Occupy Primetime. It is news and information from a progressive point of view. We have a lot to say. We are aimed at a younger demographic. You will hear more about this. 63 million subscriber households at present, and were enthusiastic, passionate, and excited. So have at it.
SuicideGirls: There are already so many political networks and shows. Why do you think theres an appetite for it and why do we need more?
AG: An illustration of how we think we have already brought something to primetime television that nobody else has, [is] when Occupy Wall Street began, nobody was covering it except Countdown With Keith Olbermann. Night after night after night he hammered away on it, harangued the other networks asking why is nobody covering this. Eventually they did. And now a few months later, the 99 percent/1 percent framework has become a key part of the political dialogue in America. You have Republican candidates in South Carolina accusing Mitt Romney of being a vulture capitalist. The whole dialogue has changed. And what we bring thats different is a consistent, progressive point of view, politically direct and hard hitting.
SG: Why do you think people will want to watch that kind of programming? The numbers indicate they like the other stuff.
AG: I disagree. There are some polls that say X percent are conservative, X percent are liberal, X percent of independent. When you dig deeper, what you find is that the one label that is used to self-describe people far more than any other in the U.S. today is progressive. And in fact, there has been a dawning in America of a new awareness that the way our system is working today does not help the average American get ahead. Theres a big shift underway out there. The concentration of wealth at the top, all the millions who are unemployed, in foreclosure, they watch the other networks and they see discussions of why to eliminate the inheritance tax and further cut taxes on the wealthy and cut unemployment compensation and privatize Social Security. They think its nuts, and theyre looking, many of them, for a place where they can see the dots connected in a way that makes sense to them and helps them participate in the conversation of democracy that must lead to better policies and solutions.
SG: Can you reflect a little bit on the evolution of Current and why do you think politics is really resonating with its audience right now?
AG: Well, I think there is this awareness in the country that things have to change. The through line is weve always been dedicated to an independent point of view, to present the truth as we see it without fear or favor. Were very proud of our Vanguard unit that has won every major award in television journalism: The Peabody, the duPont, twice the Best Young Journalist Under 35 in America. Were proud of our two Emmys, and we began with the user generated content, and we are continuing to use it, and we are going to integrate it into our coverage. But when we launched the Countdown with Keith Olbermann, we saw the opportunity to really speak in a politically direct matter, forgive me for repeating the brand there, but we feel strongly about it with a progressive point of view. And its not really being heard. You know, MSNBC has some liberal oriented shows in the evening, but their hosts have been told they have to put on former chairman of the RNC, and they have to put on Tea Party hosts, and some of the hosts were not happy about that but they have to do it. They start the day with a conservative show. Theyre all over the lot in the middle of the day, and then another prison channel on the weekend. Now, look. These networks add some value. I dont want to be just critical of them, but Im differentiating Current. We are politically direct. We do have a progressive point of view. It will be consistent 24/7. What about the climate issue? 98 percent of all the climate scientists in the world say that its real. Every national academy of science, every professional scientific society, its urgent. You gotta act. Here are a couple of wackos who are on the payroll of large carbon polluters [as guests on the show], so [the network claims] its 50/50. This is crazy stuff.
SG: Is there any truth to the rumor that Current might be for sale?
AG: No. Its not true. And were not for sale. We love what were doing.
SG: What are your thoughts as you watched the 2012 election gear up? Did you ever think it could be crazier than in 2000?
AG: Its pretty crazy, Ill tell you. Reminds me of a reality show where nobody gets voted off the island. And how many times has first place been claimed by a different candidate? I think seven times at last count, and now, as I mentioned, you have the frontrunner being described as a vulture capitalist and longtime conservatives running to his left. Its really an unusual campaign. I think that one of the reasons why politics in America has seemed to get crazier and crazier is that its now dominated by big money. Of course, the Supreme Court, with whose opinions Ive not always agreed, declared that corporations are people and that money is free speech. You all know this, but now youre seeing how it plays out with the casino billionaire dropping $5 million onto Newt Gingrichs so called Super PAC. Thats happening in a very pervasive way. And when you see all these candidates line up to deny science and say that up is down and black is white, its because that helps them get more big money.
When you see gridlock in the Congress where theyre willing to put the credit rating of the United States at risk and when the Tea Party Republicans are willing to drive the country towards actual bankruptcy in order to avoid any slight increase in the tax rates paid by the wealthiest Americans, thats because thats where their campaign contributions come from. They are bought, lock, stock and barrel. Part of what we want to do is to pull that curtain back and say, Here is who is paying the piper and thats why the piper is playing this tune. And we are desperately in need of that. When we went to war, more than 2/3 of the American people actually believed what turned out to be an absolute and total lie, that the person we were invading was responsible for 9/11. He wasnt, but here is the point. The fact that the American people were left with that false impression that led to the death of so many people, so much tragedy, still unfolding by the way, that is an indictment of the poor quality of television news overall where there are large and powerful interests exerting an influence to tone down the truth, and instead, give a pabulum out there. So we think we can help change that.
To close this, because weve been given the signal that we have to stop, Ill end where I began with the open. We pride ourselves on being independent. Its not just a word. Its not just a slogan. Its not just an identity. It is a reality that empowers us to ignore what corporate conglomerates might want. We dont answer to any powers that be. We do our very best to present the truth without fear or favor and connect the dots in a politically direct way from a progressive point of view, and I hope you all will enjoy watching. Thank you very much.