NYO Article: Al Gore Would Rather be Ailes than President

[KoKo]

(This is a long read. Quotes Brit Hume and others on the "pros/cons" of Gore's effort. An interesting, though discouraging, in some ways, read).

This week, as NBC hammers out details on its proposed
merger with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, former Vice
President Al Gore is trying to finalize his
own deal: the purchase of a Universal-owned digital news
channel called Newsworld International, a transaction that could
herald Mr. Gore’s official transformation from historical
footnote to media player with the power to get in the game that
he says has lately upset him so.

"He thinks the country is disserved by the absence of truth in news, by the absence
of honesty in public-official presentation, by the apparently infinite cynicism of
those who currently hold high office," said Reed Hundt, the former chairman of the
F.C.C.—the Michael Powell of another political age—who saw through the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, as well as a close friend of Mr. Gore’s. "These
things disturb him, I know that. He’s made these points to me. I think Al, and to my
knowledge dozens of other progressives, would like to go beyond complaining to
actually trying to fix the problems."

If, as Mr. Gore told The Observer in December 2002, Fox News and right-wing talk
radio have helped bolster the Bush administration’s message, then Mr. Gore’s buy
would mark a further convergence of television and politics—the migration of
power and influence to politicized media. In a cable-television world in which Fox
News Channel, with its self-proclaimed corrective point of view, beats CNN’s
self-proclaimed absence of point of view; in which programmers have to
"narrowcast" to gain an audience; in which HBO’s K Street mixes up Howard Dean
with Hollywood actors and has James Carville participate in a kind of Being John
Malkovich version of being James Carville, in a reality-TV business in which all bets
are off—being a media mogul may be a whole lot better than being President.

http://www.observer.com/popad1.html

[montanacowboy]

1. WOW

NWI is awesome! It's the only news I can stand to watch, especially great when the have the National on, CBC, it's terrific.

[nannygoat]

2. KoKo01, I couldn't get the link to work so here is another

http://www.observer.com/pages/frontpage6.asp

[KoKo]

5. Thanks! I had trouble with their site today. And hoped my NTSP History

had the correct link when I posted. But, I didn't check the link....so thanks again!

[Cha]

3. IMO..Al Gore is trying to do what's best for our Country!

And I'm betting he'll succeed! :toast: and Props to Al and Tipper Gore! Cause they're a team!

[MasonJar]

4. Yea

Thank God that Al Gore is going to give the rest of us a chance to give our ideas a voice. Yea.

[KoKo]

6. Try to download and print the article. It's a long read...and not as good

as my little "clip" seems. When one reads through it all it's pretty overwhelming. I don't know if he can succeed. As much as my hopes and prayers are with him! But, the article may be biased....but it does point out the overwhelming odds we and Gore are up against.

It may not work out the way we want. But, we've gotta try!

Please make sure you use a better link in the post thread here.

[KoKo]

7. Here's the link that works! Please read.

http://www.observer.com/pages/frontpage6.asp