The Lord loves a tryer

Bless. Al Gore has set up a youth TV channel. Something I never thought I'd hear myself saying, but there it is. It's called Current and this is its website.

The BBC ran an article on it, here.

Current says:

There's plenty to watch on TV, but as a viewer, you don't have much chance to influence or contribute to what you see. This medium - the most powerful, riveting one we have - is still a narrow vision of reality rolled out in predictable 30-minute chunks. It's still a fortress of an old-school, one-way world.

We want to bust it open.

We're rethinking the way TV is produced, programmed, and presented, so it actually makes sense to an audience that's accustomed to choice, control, and collaboration in everything else they do.

Al Gore says: "[Current will let viewers] engage in the dialogue of democracy." More than a whiff of Dubya-style freedom-speak there, but guess who's going to be chairman? Yep, old Pregnant-Chad Gore himself.

Well, the idea sounds good, and if it makes the youth of America sit up and take more of an interest in current affairs then so much the better. Gore is a journalist by training if not so much by profession, and while he has often been lambasted by the press for his dryness and lack of the elusive "common touch", you can't deny that he means well. So best of luck, Mr. Gore. But please, do us a favour and don't try to show the kids how hip you are by breaking into a surprise rap or something. I'm all for bringing politics to the yoof, but there are limits. Are you listening, Tony Benn?