Michael Moore Has a Point

Although he's been dragged through the mud by the right wing talk radio hosts and pundits, his latest foray with the press on CNN did produce some validating points on the way the media has covered current events. The usual staid "Situation Room" program (hosted by Wolf Blitzer) got some octane earlier this week when the director of Fahrenheit 911and Sicko came on for the first time in three years. In a passionate discourse worthy of any forum, Mr. Moore didn't mince words when he described the MSM being lax on their job in terms of reporting the truth of what went on in Iraq. Similar to complaints in the past (mostly from Bill Moyers and Walter Cronkite, for starters), he opined that the media spent more time skirting around the issues related to the conflict in the Middle East rather than challenging the current Administration with hard and penetrating questions. With the exception of stalwart and gritty reporter Helen Thomas, the Washington Press corps had appeared during the Bush era of politics to be cowed over by the connections that they have made opposed to doing their job being objective.

And the problem that resulted contributed to the press being more like cheerleaders instead of doing their job. For the highly touted and well-paid anchors who had changed their style from being advocates in the mold of Edward R. Murrow, they in turn have transformed into shills for propaganda--pretty much in the same style as the talk show hosts who are more like entertainers instead of producing more insights into current events.

Say what you want about Mr. Moore (and on the boards I've heard plenty from both sides about him). He has related a very important truth about the lackidasial job of the press. It has been asked elsewhere whether there are any journalists left cut from the cloth of the gonzo reporters and of the Woodward/Bernstein era. The short answer is no. The sad thing is that like the celebrities we follow on the result of who they are dating and how well they look, journalists have spent more time being under the plastic surgery knife than really bringing the news that counts to the people. And if we continue in the trend of reporters going for what is easy instead of more informational things that might exact social change in society, we're going to get nothing but (to put it bluntly) crap with little else.

What the director did in his comments to Mr. Blitzer was a service. Although the host of CNN's "Situation Room" was rather perturbed and flabbergasted by Mr. Moore's bluntness, at least it was put out there for the viewing audience to think about. After all, when has anyone ever had the courage to simply speak their mind without caring whether they become fodder in the next's day reportage? It seems that whenever someone speaks their mind in the MSM, they become instantly reviled for revealing the ugly side of current news. And sometimes, those who are "whistleblowers" (if you think about Ambassador Wilson's editorial piece concerning Iraq policy) end up being punished and automatically labeled as an transgressor to the system if they don't play ball with the system.

That is one thing Mr. Moore is not afraid of. He has always gone by his own rules in terms of telling it like it is. It is a shame that we don't have more people like him that will simply speak instead of being afraid of running counter to the talking points that are automatically formulated into breaking headlines.