what happened to current.com

If it can keep evolving toward democratic and intelligent programming standards, I think current has incredible potential.

In relation to short-circuiting our fragmentation and the corporate monopoly on media to empower socio-political change, what could be more useful than a community-based television which magnetizes a progressive audience?

its a work in progrees, but i will say ever since i have been on here i have learned alot

This is a great information source... We just need to keep it going, sharing more info and ideas... I have learned more from current people about people and our world than anywhere in such a short span of time, it is a marvel, and the contributors marvelous!

I love Current and I got to watch the channel from my hotel room in NYC for a few days. I would totally watch it if it was carried by local networks, but I love the interactivity of the site more.

I like it. The news changes really fast. On website like CNN, Newsweek, Time, and Yahoo it may take a day or longer to change. On Current it change change by hours and minutes, plus the old things are there and still work. For example, Yahoo removes its or replaces their articles after a month, therefore if you bookmarked it, it is gone later. Current you can come back next month and it will still be their; possibly with new views.

I miss all the older formatting. Before all the red and green buttons and current:news and all this fancy stuff.
I think the voting is an improvement, but the smaller news segments throughout the day were a lot better. That's just me though.
I like current. or I wouldn't keep coming back. I just hope it retains some of its rough edges.

I consider myself liberal. I hate Bush and every thing those people do. I want a clean environment and a peaceful world.

But I find this place is waay too liberal for me. It's as if people here feel the answer to Bush is to become anti-Bush - just as wrong but from the other side, like a tug of war.

But I feel the true battle of our age is not between the extreme right and the extreme left. It is between extremism and moderation. So, adding liberal extremism to the conservative extremism just makes more extremism. Extremism of any kind is antithetical to peace.

That's what I think about Current.

But I'll keep coming here to get interesting news and try to moderate the more extreme views and provide technical information where it seems to be missing.

It's a great site and program with lots of great people, but as with everything else in the world it has its flaws and needs help.

It's got a lot of room for improvement (cough, basic HTML formatting, cough), but overall I'm quite happy.

I am NOT a fan of them throwing their "Featured" items into the mix, though. There's no reason for pre-sanctioned Current pods to be given extra prominence in the news stream. Let them sink or swim with the rest of us.

I first saw this channel when i was in my dorm... and i fell in love with it. It gives me info about all things that interest me as a college student. We control the content on the tv and the site, which I think is awesome. An audience based channel... gives us a voice to put on what we see as important... no matter how liberal or conservative it might be.

I like that we're leaning more towards liberal. Conservatives make me want to retch.

Lately it seems to have been invaded by some hateful trolls, but it will work that out somehow. Personally I like the more serious news, but some fluff is interesting too. It is a work in progress.

the writer doesn't know what he's talkin' about...

I like this place, but it leans pretty far to the left. Many liberals haven't figured out yet that the Democrats aren't going to save us at the end of Bush's term (since they didn't save us in 2006), and if Obama is elected, I expect him to have his core 30% that will defend him no matter what.

That being said, I love that I can post things I can't post anywhere else and have it get a fair amount of exposure. The fluff on here is some of the best fluff around and the music is phenomenal.

Hi everyone
Just wanted to thank you for the input. Super useful for us. Please do keep it coming.

what happened to the editors pick section. kinda liked that.

Intelligent discussion can be found on this website, between vulgar jokes and weak ideologies. But hey, listening to all types of people just makes all people a little more understanding. That's a future I am down with. More down with than the simplistic input/output world of prime time news journalism. Plug in, tune out??

Current is for the future and for now.

For me, this is a platform to report news ad events.

Hey everyone, I second ofer's response -- this is truly helpful.

We're taking on a pretty ambitious charge. Remember, Current isn't about being "left" or "right," it's about having a voice.

Keep it up!

Mario
Online Community Team

i love current too, but the content seems to somehow be shrinking as the network matures. initially i was concerned that current would turn into some sort of mtv-esque superficial lifestyle channel, but now the threat appears to be that current is simply reinforcing the status quo & wallowing in a sea of inappropriate neutrality.

more people would be more passionately interested in current if it wasn't so safe & honestly embraced truly controversial issues instead of just offering more thoughtful & inclusive discussions about b.s. mainstream manufactured news.

current is very commercial, but i always felt that they could have even more sponsors reaching out to socially conscious consumers if the vibe of the station wasn't so restrained...there's kind of a weekend rebel thing going on here that's strange & impossible to shake, but it definitely doesn't invalidate the generally refreshing, interesting & inspiring spirit that makes the whole current community so deliciously innovative.

I love Current TV, but I think current.com might possibly have some major, fundamental flaws. I think the idea behind its conception is great: a website that works seamlessly with a television network, breaking down the one-way communication of the television and making it a two way conversation, allowing people to influence what is considered news rather than being told what is news. ideally it is supposed to strengthen democracy.

That being said, I think current.com is susceptible to the greatest evils of the internet, primarily a lack of credibility. If every user on current.com only uploaded credible stories with good citations and links, then everything would be fine, but many users have been linking stories to conspiracy theory websites and other sources that lack any credibility whatsoever. If this trend continues and the majority of users ever becomes largely pro-conspiracy theorist/ anti-mainstream media, then current.com and current TV will lose some credibility as a company because it could lack a strong editorial position. Current.com should be more vigilant in editing what makes it on air because many stories are not based on fact or have only conspiracy theory websites as sources. Current.com must have journalistic/editorial standards that that meet or exceed those of other credible news networks like CNN, MSNBC, PBS, Comedy Central and the BBC. I have no problem with current preventing stories with no credibility from being aired, even if it is extremely popular. Just because something is popular, doesn't make it right.

Current needs to check the facts of every story before it airs, and it seems as if Current is doing a pretty good job of this so far. But without strong editorial standards it could essentially become "digg-tv" or "ron paul tv", where vocal minorities control the content, comments, tone and direction of a website with credibility or not.

However, despite its minor problems, I think Current.com and Current TV are great. No matter what I will stick with them because Al Gore created them and AL speaks for me.

I gotta represent!
Current TV is greatest find that ever came from channel surfing! People doubting it should really take another look, but everyone has their own opinion and that's respected at Current more than anywhere else.

Posting on current.com gives me hope! Hope for a future when we can talk about issues as Americans, or citizens of the world, using facts to counter the spin which is making so many people dizzy.The left and the right have the ability to share and dispute facts in real time.

There are so many things that are going on at one time, it’s hard to keep attention on important topics. The great thing about current.com is the ability to post things one thinks is important and hear the response of others.

Some have said it’s too far to the left. I think that’s due to the fact ‘The Right’ has been wrong on so many issues and pointing out the wrongs, makes one appear to be left. Current.com offers ‘The Right’ the opportunity to post also.

I post and welcome facts from ’The Right’ and ’The Left’ in hope of finding ’Americans’ who care more about facts and country than political party. I am admittedly ‘left’, but I don’t agree with the ‘leaders of the left’ all the time either. Their wrongs should be discussed also. Accountability is not left or right, it’s the correct direction to the future. Accountability would keep them honest!

My main complaint about news today is the ease with which they ‘Move Along’. ‘Nothing to see here, move along’ and the majority of Americans do. Everything tends to be old news before answers are given as to how it became news in the first place. Everything is lumped together as though they are equal. Ya know, Britney got a traffic ticket and the White House used forged documents as evidence to start a war. Those two stories are not equal. I am astounded by the number of times Britney gets more air time? It’s an ‘Assault on Reason’!

I love Current! The only thing that I think should be addressed is the voting. Green means you want to see it on TV, Red means you don't. You use the comments to express if you like or dislike the topic. I think there are too many people that use green and red to show their approval. There are many stories that I do not like, but I greenlight them because I think we should see it.

wow MRsmithers, thats kind of messed up due to the fact that not all "20 somethings" are alike. i am very intune with whats going on in the world and have a "old soul" i am young, but ive experienced more than the average _____(insert age here), enough to make sure i have a very strong opinion about everything or anything someone could bring up, and know how to stand my ground. i never babble arrogant, but just my feelings on things i feel strongly about. so u being a ____(insert age here) that sounds arrogant for you to say. Anyway, i love current, the tv channel and the website, i watch and visit daily, many times a day, i like to hear what other people think and how it can either add to my knowledge or give my a different insite. thanks all

one word...obsessed...well, that is, with current.com.

not so much current tv...if i can pick what i want to watch at my own convenience on my computer, why watch tv and have to sit through boring pods?

i do have to admit...ill turn current tv on when some hottie named brian mcfayden is hosting....

I like it and think its a great model. There is a great mix of content and opinions -- conservative, liberal, moderate. And they all have a role to play and something to contribute. Even MRSmithers has a role here.

What does stand out to me -- and this is not a problem with Current as much as it is a recent social problem -- is that people don't deal well with differences in opinion. People can be really insulting on here. Conservatives and liberals ultimately want the same things out of life but things have gotten so divisive out there. There's a lot of talking going on out there but not a whole lot of real listening. IMHO.

i came upon current by accident one a.m. and was hooked. i like the variety of stories and the fact that anyone can submit text pix or pods. my friends tell me i'm turning into the computer geek because now i'm online with current also. it keeps me occupied and informed and if i dont watch the tv i can get it from the computer. hooray 4 me.

Anybody use Firefox toolbars? I do. And Current.com is on it for sure. I check this site on a daily basis and try to watch Current TV whenever I can.

However, I don't like the idea of putting the bars beside the picture. It's like what your status is. More bars, more credibility, I guess. But that just puts bias towards how you would respond to someone. I'd like to think that everybody is just equal and we're all on this to express ourselves, share ideas and what not.

Besides, I've always wondered, what if someone who is not a staff, has all of the bars colored in... would they become an employee? Haha. Well, who wouldn't want to join the team. I would love to work for Current some day.

I really like Current.com as a concept and I like how it is right now. Yes, as with many things, it could do with some fixing but I'm not disappointed in what's going on or downhearted. I find it going strong even if I think some of the stories are just major repeats....there's only so much one can take on Gay Environmental Bush Obama topics before one thinks that the world is boring.

Current tv and current.com are fantastic projects. The implications are huge in that news will not be so conservatively biased, at least I hope. You can only here so much about fear, brittany spears, and the stock market.

However, the hateful and obvious paid right wing bloggers need to be monitored more closely!

I read and contribute to Current.com on a daily basis. I find that it represents what a large segment of the American population has been yearning for in the national media, a liberal source of news information. As someone mentioned however there are alternative opinions to the liberal ones on the site, but what is wrong with having a liberal slant? Basically all sources of news have a slant. I think the Current plays a crucial role in providing a voice to many people in the US who don't feel that the news that is available is talking about the issues or framing them in the manner which they find to be useful or informative. Current allows its users to overcome this destitution of good news coverage by deciding what is important, what they feel others should be aware of, and they are able to frame the issue by commenting on the piece they have contributed or and by allowing others to share their thoughts. So all in all I think it is, like it purports, to be a vanguard source of information. Last, I think that it would be a grave mistake for Current to attempt to become more like MSNBC, CNN etc like another post mentioned because one reason people are so enthusiastic about it is due to the fact that it ISN'T like those sources. If Current goes that route, it will loose its essence and as a result possibly its users.

it's a great concept, it works fantastic and it provokes very intelligent discussions where every angle gets a voice, with only a minor amount of spam and trolling.

i kinda don't like the way some pods are automagically being hotlisted, though. great concept nevertheless.

The site itself has improved so much since it started three years ago. Of course any site has kinks in it, but on the whole I do like it very much which is why I contribute so much to it.

However, I want Current to remain an independent, non partisan, vanguard channel and site. Too much like "Daily Kos" or any extreme poltically drags it down in my view as we have enough of those sites on the web. Politically I have no party and espouse Democratic and humanitarian principles, so stories like that posted regardless of the politics of the poster interest me. Environmentally, I have never had such a chance to get out so much information about the environment, the global water crisis, etc. as I have here, so I thank this site for that.

I do have a beef with the voting but primarily that is due to people coming here to abuse the system, so I try to not let that bother me much because there are other factors that make a story rise as well. So most important is to not allow Current to lose the vanguard appeal it has as lecoke said. That is truly what keeps me coming back. if it turned into another CNN or especially Fox (especially since the station has an IPO and is going public) I would lose interest in it pretty quickly.

I think everyone's profile should get a facelift. Allow the uploading of images, backgrounds, html codes and links.

I think profiles should have a section where you can organize stories and videos that you really like or even ones that you made.

Current is always changing, and it's going to keep getting better, I think.

Hey everyone --

Thanks for the feedback in general. All of this is really informative and helpful. The great thing about Current is that everyone can chime in on a discussion as long as they are mindful of other community members' opinions while embarking in a debate.

So, I thought I'd chime in on this, too. I think it's helpful to consider that the blogger who posted this was looking at Current.com following our re-launch in 2007. I think it's important to note, as many have already, that the site has evolved steadily since then, and we are committed to continuing that evolution in order to make this place a better community in which you can help change the way media is used to get information out to the world.

Hearing your feedback helps us tremendously. Thank you for making Current.com such a great place to contribute.

Mario
Online Community Team