Current TV

On August 1st, the America-hating NewsWorld International, that brainchild of Maurice Strong's Power Corporation of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting system will officially become Current, the Al Gore channel. Naturally, the New York Times dutifully hypes the network. It may be optimistic considering Al Gore's legendary tin ear to politics, but it's a great reward for him running the "Sky is falling," global warming scam called the Kyoto Protocol envisioned by Maurice.

Even before Al signed the document, the U.S. Senate publicly repudiated it in a resolution authored by that sanctimonious, former Klu Klux Klansman, windbag Senator Robert Byrd (D). Nevertheless, the MSM made great use of the decision of the Bush administration not to ratify Kyoto another campaign for Bush bashing and loathing the U.S. (Clinton wouldn't send it for ratification either after the 95-0 vote on the resolution. Not a single Democrat signalled their intent to consider the protocol.) I doubt any one of them would invest in Current either.

As you would expect, the new network is funded by major Leftwing Democrats, including Joel Hyatt, Howard Metzenbaum's son-in-law, and Richard Blum, Dianne Feinstein's husband, and Ron Burkle, "a heavyweight Democratic fund-raiser" and Bradley Whitford who, apparently, is well qualified for heavy political thought and serious discussion because he "plays a White House adviser on "The West Wing." But the choice of president of programming is typical Gore inspiration, surfing the wave of innovation just when it grounds on the shore.

DAVID NEUMAN
The president of programming will be David Neuman, 44, "a former executive at CNN and Disney who served as a fellow in the Reagan White House." (No telling how long he was at the White House, no one states, and it doesn't show up in this brief bio, but you got to suspect that anyone who eventually went to work at CNN and Disney under Eisner had to have impeccable Leftwing credentials. The Nation is thrilled. "David Neuman--the former programming chief for CNN who recruited Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien." )

For a look at the company Newman headed before, read Matt Welch's hilarious account of how he worked for "Maharishi Dave" at DEN. The New York Times mentions none of this, but then, they probably didn't write the story they printed today that sounds suspiciously like a press release. But they must know about DEN. Digital Entertainment Network Inc (DEN) was, in Business Week's words, "a hot Web startup" that aimed to "create the online equivalent of a TV network for 14- to 24-year-olds." It didn't help that a co-founder of DEN settled a lawsuit for having sex with a 13 year old boy, then quickly resigned, nor the industry criticism of execs having extravagant salaries. (CNET story on DEN problems specifically mentions Neumann's salary.) DEN went bankrupt. Neuman is a fellow land surfer dude.

In an interview with NPR, Newman was expansive.

"Well, our entire network is going to be in short form, so think of it as like the structure of the original MTV, but instead of videos that are just about music, there's videos that cover the whole range of the young adult audience. We're calling them pods.

It sounds to me like body snatcher things, but Neuman obviously positioning himself to surf the iPod wave after it has crested. The interview continues.

As for content, it will be provided by the audience.

Yeah, I think American Idol is in the gene pool of this network. We love that. I think we think of that as a form of democratizing the television medium that we think is a cool thing.

The NPR interviewer had reservations, however.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: David, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you know two of the three examples you gave had to do with illegal drug cultivation and hip hop music. And the thing is, there's always been a concern that kids aren't interested, young people aren't interested in the news, but is it because they're not hearing about the subjects they care about or because the stories they ought to care about aren't being told well?

DAVID NEUMAN: By the way, my referencing Sierra Leone and the Myanmar stories really might be reflective of, you know, what I'm interested in, but the reality is that we aren't selecting subjects according to - oh, our audience is interested in drug use, and therefore that's what we should focus on. We're looking for compelling stories from around the world.

It promises to be interesting. Gore's tone deafness, however, might prove an obstacle, as the New York Times notes.

That there is a generation gap between Mr. Gore and his young charges became evident after the screening, when he suggested that someone call Norman Lear for some advice. The blank stares he got back suggested that no one in the room had ever heard of the producer of "All in the Family."

The MSM will never give up their fondness for the bozo. The article is entitled, "For Gore, a Reincarnation on the Other Side of the Camera." Still, you can be forgiven for thinking the investors have more interest in keeping Al Gore away from a microphone than making a buck. They can always use the tax writeoffs.