From John Weeke on Current at NYU

Dear fellows,

Finally, Al Gore is giving us what we want. We're getting the chance to connect, share, discuss and unite behind the issues that will lead us to tomorrow. Perhaps you've seen some Current TV and thought, hey that's pretty cool, I wish I could do that. Well, the idea is that everybody should.

The yet-fetal current.com is going to get big. Equal parts facebook, youtube, blog site, and tv network, it will allow you to freely voice your opinion and respond to others who share your interests and passions.

You don't need a video camera. You don't need to know anything about TV. You should craft your voice to the talents you possess and the fields you pursue, be it photography, music, writing, science, politics... even just wandering the web and finding funny stuff. You will create a network of peers who are thinking like you, right now.

For those of you who can make a video (and can't everyone these days?), 'pods' are the next step. From a quick webcam opinion to a full-scale fifteen minute documentary, anything you submit has a chance to air on Current TV. Not only is that good on a resume (50 million homes get it), but you'll also get a check from Current for somewhere between $150 and $1500.

As one of NYU's Current student producers, I'm looking for college or amateur journalists and filmmakers who have an issue to report. The subject and style are up to you, and I can give you feedback from the guys who decide if it airs. My job is to make it easy for people to get in the door. No longer is news a profession. Now it can be a public privilege, perhaps a moral responsibility.

The site opens October 16, but you can check out beta.current.com and get some info there. But really I'm asking you to think and talk about what's going on, and to unite with our generation's whistleblowers, muckrakers, progressives and visionaries.

In all sincerity, affiliation aside, I feel I've stumbled on something that could be instrumental in our future, something that could allow us to decide what we see and know. We can strip power from the old white nightly anchors whose bottom line dictates what world we see, and we can enforce the truth. Collectively, we will be heard.

With great excitement,

Jweeke
john.weeke@gmail.com
Freely contact me for any reason.
www.current.com