Friday, December 26, 2003
Al Gore did not invent the Internet
Paul Krugman touches on an issue that I felt wasn't adequately covered in the media or elsewhere -- the free ride that GWB got from the so-called liberal media during the 2000 elections. He suggests a few rules for political reporting including this line.
If a reporter must use anecdotes, they'd better be true. After the Dean endorsement, innumerable reporters cracked jokes about Al Gore's inventing the Internet. Guys, he never said that: it's a malicious distortion of a true statement, and no self-respecting journalist would repeat it.
Bingo. This is something I used to be very pissed off about during the 2000 elections, especially since this line is taken to be the gospel truth by just about everyone. The truth behind the oft-repeated statement is slightly different. What really happened was that Gore was asked why he was different from Bill Bradley in the 2000 primaries by Wolf Blitzer on an episode of Late Edition. This was his response.
During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.
Yes, Gore's phrasing is rather clumsy. Clearly, he meant that he helped create an environment (especially from a policy and regulatory standpoint) from 1977 on that helped the Internet flourish. It came out sounding a little different, but even so, he hasn't claimed that he *invented* the Internet. So, how did that meme get so much currency? In this context, it's useful to remember Vinton Cerf's comments about this whole Al Gore episode.
I think it is very fair to say that the Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the vice president
It seems a little mind-boggling to me that this misrepresentation has so much currency even today and no news outlet, including CNN (the home of Wolf Blitzer) has tried to set the story straight. So much for the liberal media.
If a reporter must use anecdotes, they'd better be true. After the Dean endorsement, innumerable reporters cracked jokes about Al Gore's inventing the Internet. Guys, he never said that: it's a malicious distortion of a true statement, and no self-respecting journalist would repeat it.
Bingo. This is something I used to be very pissed off about during the 2000 elections, especially since this line is taken to be the gospel truth by just about everyone. The truth behind the oft-repeated statement is slightly different. What really happened was that Gore was asked why he was different from Bill Bradley in the 2000 primaries by Wolf Blitzer on an episode of Late Edition. This was his response.
During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.
Yes, Gore's phrasing is rather clumsy. Clearly, he meant that he helped create an environment (especially from a policy and regulatory standpoint) from 1977 on that helped the Internet flourish. It came out sounding a little different, but even so, he hasn't claimed that he *invented* the Internet. So, how did that meme get so much currency? In this context, it's useful to remember Vinton Cerf's comments about this whole Al Gore episode.
I think it is very fair to say that the Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the vice president
It seems a little mind-boggling to me that this misrepresentation has so much currency even today and no news outlet, including CNN (the home of Wolf Blitzer) has tried to set the story straight. So much for the liberal media.
