Friday, April 30, 2010

Current TV's Al Gore: ''We're encouraging South African content creators to tell their stories.''


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Current TV (TopTV 406) is launching tomorrow on the new TopTV pay TV service in South Africa. TopTV's feed of Current TV will be coming from America through Britain, but Current TV wants South African stories. ''We're encouraging young creators of content here in South Africa to make videos and to tell their stories and to connect with a global audience,'' says Current TV chairman Al Gore. ''Join the global conversation through the very powerful medium of television''.

''Our content is being made by young people all over the world and now Current TV is, thanks to TopTV, available here in South Africa,'' said Al Gore at a press conference I attended this morning in Johannesburg. ''You can contact us by going to www.current.com and upload videos that we then broadcast. The heart of Current TV is citizen journalism and investigative journalism. I need not say how important it is for our global civilization and for democracies like South Africa to have vigorous investigative journalism.''

''What is unique about Current TV is that content creators in South Africa can join the conversation of democracy by the means of the medium of television. I look forward to the day when young citizen journalists and investigative journalists in South Africa will be regularly connecting with a global audience and a large audience in South Africa and telling stories that no-one else is telling.''