Michael Moore vs. Wolf Blitzer
This time it’s personal.
Michael Moore was on CNN during the 5-6 pm (Eastern) hour today for a live interview conducted by Wolf Blitzer. The interview was preceded by a report by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, which attempted to fact check Moore’s film Sicko. After the report ran, they went live for the interview, and Moore proceeded to slam Blitzer, Gupta, CNN, and the mainstream media. He accused them of being water carriers for their sponsors, including the pharmaceutical and health care industries, of refusing to ask tough questions of the powerful, of cowardice, dishonesty… it was beautiful.
It ran long (Jack Cafferty complained that they’d dug into his time), but Blitzer was barely able to get a word in edgewise. The best he could do was defend Gupta as a doctor and a journalist, and admit that CNN is a business and has to make money.
Blitzer offered to continue the interview on tape, but Moore insisted that he would only do it live because he didn’t want to be edited against his will. Blitzer replied that he’d play the whole thing, uncut. I don’t know if Moore agreed to that or not.
If I can get my hands on a video of the interview, I’ll post it here. Moore says he’s going to answer all of Gupta’s points on his site, so maybe he’ll upload the interview too.
Update: Blitzer just did a tease for the 7:00 hour, and he says he’s going to have the first part of the interview and the second tomorrow, so hopefully that means they’ll show all of the stuff that was live earlier today and more — uncut — tomorrow. I wish I had a DVR.
Update to update: today’s interview is up at YouTube. It’s non-embeddable, so you’ll have to go way over there to see it. Thanks, Mike.
OK, one more update: Moore, as promised, has published a blow by blow response to Gupta’s report on his site, closing with the following:
CNN: “But no matter how much Moore fudged the facts, and he did fudge some facts…”
This is libel. There is not a single fact that is “fudged” in the film. No one has proven a single fact in the film wrong. We expect CNN to correct their mistakes on the air and to apologize to their viewers.
We shall see…
Tags: CNN, Eye of Hell, Health-Care, Media, Michael-Moore, Propaganda, Sanjay-Gupta, Sicko, Wolf-Blitzer
Category: Eye of Hell, Media, Propaganda
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Comments (7)
Anne on 11 Jul 2007 at 3:18 pm #
Michael Moore and Rosie are a lot alike in the fact that anyone who does not agree with their point of view is an idiot and a liar. When liberals from the entertainment industry start spouting their political views, I feel they are often filled with half truths and God help the folks that try to point that out.
Anonymous on 11 Jul 2007 at 6:07 pm #
To hear Gupta imply that Moore hid the fact that Cuba was ranked 39th when he knew that CNN’s screen banner hid Moore’s disclosure of this fact can only be described as total dishonesty. I was shocked to hear Gupta claim that Michael fudged the numbers by relying upon 2007 Bush administration figures instead of 2004 World Health Organization figures. Never has a CNN hatchet job stood so naked. Wolf, apologies are in order.
John R. Polito
Mount Pleasant, SC
Anonymous on 11 Jul 2007 at 6:18 pm #
Gupta pulled one of the oldest tricks in the book. Make it appear that you are praising something but make your main point, baseless as it is, to say that Moore is fudging some of the facts. That’s not praise, that is slimy journalism aka FOX NEWS. Moore has reliable sources such as, well, Bush HHS 2007 report and the World Health Organization. Just because Gupta chooses to look at other facts or older data, in no way means Moore is cherry picking his facts or playing loose with the facts. That’s one of the craziest things I have ever heard. CNN has sunk to a new low. What makes me sad is that this is further proof that we have no one in mainstream media who will stop spinning the news for corporate interests. Do you think the Insurance industry has anything to do with buying the news and opinion shows now that Moore has made this movie. They spent millions trying to bring down Hillary Clinton’s Universal HC proposal. The Insurance industry is afraid of Michael Moore now just the same and will spend and spin to try to stop this movement. I trust CNN about as much as I do FOX and ABC.
Anonymous on 12 Jul 2007 at 1:24 am #
I’m not sure that you understand Gupta’s point. It is not fair statistically to compare numbers from two different sources. Each source collects and processes data in a unique way. The 2007 HHS data was a projection (2007 is barely half over and the film was probably in the can by the end of 2006). HHS probably used a projection based on median percentage growth in spending and data from a previous year. The data from the WHO was retrospective and obviously older because it shows the per capita spending in the US as $5700. It doesn’t matter that Moore provided him copies of the data because he is using it in an incorrect way.
Anonymous on 12 Jul 2007 at 1:41 am #
Why attack such a balanced movie and Mr. Moore’s patriotic contribution. Unfortunately, Dr. Gupta’s credibility in question after this shameful interview. CNN, you are what is wrong with the press today. You air garbage, muddy the facts and attack a good Americans like Mr. Moore. Shame on you Dr. Gupta and CNN.
Anonymous on 12 Jul 2007 at 2:29 am #
Dr. Gupta is probably just guilty of being lazy. Too lazy to find his own angle for the story. Too easy to fall into the well worn trap that Moore is “fudging facts”. It didn’t matter that the sources were well documented, just look for new sources. Shame! He’s probably a good doctor, but lacks the integrity and training of a journalist.
Anonymous on 12 Jul 2007 at 2:50 am #
This is a contraversy about nothing. Gupta’s numbers were not significantly different. What is the difference if the USA outspends Cuba on healthcare 27 to 1 or 28 to 1? The difference is huge either way. These are figures that are impossible to measure with precision.
The fact that his numbers were so close to Moore’s pretty much substatiates Moore’s figures. Moore could have made the same movie using Gupta’s number and it would have the same dramatic effect.
What is the difference if the cash register is short 19.87 or 20.15 at the end of the day? Somebody probably got an extra 20 in change.