The former vice president spoke before an advance screening of his latest documentary, 'An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.'
"Every night on the news is like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation," Al Gore said Saturday night when asked his opinion of how the news media reports on climate change. "And I'll wait for the newscasters to connect the dots," he continued, adding that they rarely do.
Gore spoke about the state of the news media and its effect on the conversation surrounding global climate change at a Q&A before an advance screening of his his latest documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, held at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
At the Fandango-sponsored event, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt moderated the conversation with the former vice president of the United States, asking about "fake news" and its place in the denialist narrative about climate change.
"We have a challenge in the U.S., where climate in the news in concerned," said Gore. "First: The line between news and entertainment has become a very porous line." He added: "Second reason is that there is a pretty powerful and wealthy special interest of carbon polluters that have spent billions of dollars over the past three decades putting out false information."
Gordon-Levitt asked Gore where he gets his own news. "I like to triangulate," said Gore, adding his go-tos are The New York Times, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, adding, "I'll read some red-state sites, as well."
An Inconvenient Sequel, from directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, is the follow-up to Davis Guggenheim's Oscar-winnning 2006 doc An Inconvenient Truth. The Participant-produced sequel, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, will be released July 28 by Paramount.
Before the screening began, Gore prompted the audience to go to town-hall meetings, talk to their local representatives and do their own research on the global climate crisis.
He concluded: "It has to come from the people because the news media is not giving it to us fairly and squarely now."
You need to be a member of 9/11 Scholars Forum to add comments!
Join 9/11 Scholars Forum