Excerpt: Reporters take exception to a media blackout of the ceremony in the Vaud capital that confers an honorary degree on the Nobel prize winner.
Al Gore received an honorary doctorate from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Tuesday but, like the greenhouse gases he is famous for combating, he was invisible to the media. Reporters were shut out of the ceremony where the Nobel Peace Prize winner accepted his degree, which honors the former US vice-president’s efforts to publicize the climate change issue. A select few journalists were invited to attend the affair on the condition they did not report on what was said and did not film the event or take photographs – an edict that went down like a lead balloon with local news organizations. Thierry Meyer, editor-in-chief of the Lausanne-based 24 Heures newspaper, wrote a commentary piece today decrying the secrecy. Meyer said readers should have the right to an account of the exchange between Gore and the students come to hear him speak – and not just carefully selected extracts selected for a press release. The irony of the situation is that Gore has become a media guru and communicator, famous for his role as narrator in the documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth. In this case, his message at EPFL got lost in the hub hub over the media blackout, apparently ordered by Gore’s staff.
| 10h07 Reporters take exception to a media blackout of the ceremony in the Vaud capital that confers an honorary degree on the Nobel prize winner.
Al Gore received an honorary doctorate from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Tuesday but, like the greenhouse gases he is famous for combating, he was invisible to the media. Reporters were shut out of the ceremony where the Nobel Peace Prize winner accepted his degree, which honors the former US vice-president’s efforts to publicize the climate change issue. A select few journalists were invited to attend the affair on the condition they did not report on what was said and did not film the event or take photographs – an edict that went down like a lead balloon with local news organizations.
Thierry Meyer, editor-in-chief of the Lausanne-based 24 Heures newspaper, wrote a commentary piece today decrying the secrecy. Meyer said readers should have the right to an account of the exchange between Gore and the students come to hear him speak – and not just carefully selected extracts selected for a press release. The irony of the situation is that Gore has become a media guru and communicator, famous for his role as narrator in the documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth. In this case, his message at EPFL got lost in the hub hub over the media blackout, apparently ordered by Gore’s staff. The 1,600 students, teachers and invited guests hear the former American presidential candidate give a speech for which he normally charges as much as SFr200,000 for half an hour – in this case there was no charge.
Gore’s arrival at the Lausanne university in a hybrid limousine drew contrasts in a report carried by Edipresse papers with the arrival of Swiss President Pascal Couchepin for the award-ceremony. Couchepin – known for his support of nuclear power rather than alternative energy - flew to the campus in an enormous government helicopter. Couchepin, who posted the speech he delivered to EPFl on his website, said the nuclear option was a “necessary solution” because electricity needs are rising and alternative energy sources are not convincing. He said wind-powered generators use a lot of concrete and steel while solar power “is not yet competitive.” Alternative energy sources must be “supported, developed, practised,” but they will not be able to fill the energy gap expected in the next 50 years.
Gore later spoke to employees of the private bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch in Geneva at the Grand Casino de Genève. LODH is the European representative of an investment fund specializing in sustainable development that was co-founded by the Nobel prize winner. The bank earlier announced it was financing a EPFL research chair for sustainable development in the Lake Geneva area.
