John W. Adkisson \/ Getty Images <\/p>\n
Ron Paul in 2012 in Greenville, S. C. <\/p>\n
Former Texas congressman Ron Paul has never been at a loss for ways to pass the time. Between his books hes got a new one out in September speaking engagements, the presidential runs, and now his online venture the Ron Paul Channel, his professional pace has tended to belie his 78 years. <\/p>\n
The newest of those enterprises is his just-launched subscription-based video channel, a platform presenting Pauls unfettered commentary on the news of the day for which subscribers pay $9.95 a month. That gets them access to a handful of episodes a week featuring the indefatigable libertarian standard-bearer editorializing at length on his favorite subjects and interviewing friendly guests, with Paul broadcasting from Texas and most of the technicians working from California. <\/p>\n
Paul, who says he doesnt technically own the outlet, nevertheless sees its launch as typifying todays media topography, in which mobile devices level the playing field for would-be publishers and let anyone with a microphone use new media to bypass old gatekeepers. <\/p>\n
To help him take the plunge into new media, Paul is relying on an ownership group whose leadership has ties to prominent tech and venture capital firms. <\/p>\n
(MORE: Seven Highlights from Ron Pauls reddit AMA) <\/p>\n
When I left Congress, a lot of people came to me and suggested new ways to do the things Ive done for a long time, Paul told TIME. They had different suggestions for different vehicles, but most of them were really using the Internet, since the Internet was always the friend of our campaigns and for our supporters to get organized. So I went with the group that offered to set up the ability for me to work from Texas and not have to go to New York or travel to communicate. They set this up where I could have an Internet-based program, which was attractive to me. <\/p>\n
Were doing this because we believe the news is canned. That you dont get independent analysis. The channel does have similarities to TV-type programming, but it really cant be a news channel where youre up on every second of the news around the world, because that costs many millions of dollars, so its limited to guests and commentary on policy. <\/p>\n
Indicative of his focus purely on his channels content lots of foreboding about U.S. action in Syria, for example, and Pauls usual castigation of the surveillance state Paul did not have a number or estimate of subscribers, and did not immediately recall the name of the ownership group behind the Ron Paul Channel when asked. That group would be a California entity called Social Programming Network, which reported earlier this year it had raised a little more than $4 million in a private offering, according to a regulatory filing. <\/p>\n
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\nRon Paul Unfiltered: Libertarian Icon On His New Internet TV Channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"