A fraud & charlatan gets two softball interviews on Good Morning America as if he were a credible documentarian. Ya, I bet you're shocked! Shocked!
****
ABC's GMA Gives Forum to Moore to Denounce U.S. Health System
Media Research Center
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, Chris Cuomo conducted part one of a mostly softball A fraud & charlatan gets two softball interviews on Good Morning America as if he were a credible documentarian. Ya, I bet you're shocked! Shocked!
****
ABC's GMA Gives Forum to Moore to Denounce U.S. Health System
Media Research Center
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, Chris Cuomo conducted part one of a mostly softball interview with Sicko filmmaker Michael Moore. (Another segment aired Wednesday focused on Moore's attacks on the media for enabling the Iraq war.) But despite a flowery introduction where the GMA anchor asserted "[Moore's] critics are struggling to fight his basic premise that America's health care system is in trouble," Cuomo still found himself backpedaling after labeling the liberal filmmaker's Cuba trip a stunt. The ABC host, son of Mario Cuomo, quickly exclaimed, "Look, I like your stunt." Robin Roberts set the tone: "Michael Moore sinks his teeth into America's health care industry, asking, 'Are alleged terrorists getting better health care than you are?'...Can't wait to see that." Cuomo contended that "his critics are struggling to fight his basic premise that America's health care system is in trouble."
The stunt in question, Moore's escorting of 9/11 Ground Zero workers to Cuba for treatment, resulted in this retort from the director: "Well, I'm making a point. I'm using satire to make a larger point, politically and socially, and you want to call it a stunt. It's certainly no different than what you would do on Good Morning America on any given day, except you wouldn't actually confront the government in the way that I would do it."
This led to a back and forth that culminated with Cuomo announcing, "Look, I like the stunt. I think it raises the provocative question. But that's not journalism. This film is not journalism."
Cuomo, who is also the brother of New York's Democratic Attorney General, opened the segment by helpfully stating that Moore isn't "just taking a shot, he's got a solution.":
<<< "But first, we have Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore this morning. He's back and this time he has health care in his sights. The film is Sicko. It opens June 29. And it's interesting to note, his critics are struggling to fight his basic premise that America's health care system is in trouble. But Mr. Moore says he's not just taking a shot, he's got a solution, one he found by comparing our system of health care to countries around the world." >>>
To be fair, the ABC anchor did offer a few tough questions. Early on in the segment, he inquired as to whether Moore was creating too rosy a picture of the health care systems in other nations: "I mean, they have huge tax burdens. Do you think you pay too little attention to that in your film?"
Moore: "No. I think that the news media in this country has done a very good job of pointing out all the flaws."
However, he followed that up by showing a clip of the filmmaker's documentary. Cuomo introduced the snippet by gushing over how "powerful" some of Moore's examples were.
[This item is adapted from a posting, by Scott Whitlock, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
mrc.org with Sicko filmmaker Michael Moore. (Another segment aired Wednesday focused on Moore's attacks on the media for enabling the Iraq war.) But despite a flowery introduction where the GMA anchor asserted "[Moore's] critics are struggling to fight his basic premise that America's health care system is in trouble," Cuomo still found himself backpedaling after labeling the liberal filmmaker's Cuba trip a stunt. The ABC host, son of Mario Cuomo, quickly exclaimed, "Look, I like your stunt." Robin Roberts set the tone: "Michael Moore sinks his teeth into America's health care industry, asking, 'Are alleged terrorists getting better health care than you are?'...Can't wait to see that." Cuomo contended that "his critics are struggling to fight his basic premise that America's health care system is in trouble."
The stunt in question, Moore's escorting of 9/11 Ground Zero workers to Cuba for treatment, resulted in this retort from the director: "Well, I'm making a point. I'm using satire to make a larger point, politically and socially, and you want to call it a stunt. It's certainly no different than what you would do on Good Morning America on any given day, except you wouldn't actually confront the government in the way that I would do it."
This led to a back and forth that culminated with Cuomo announcing, "Look, I like the stunt. I think it raises the provocative question. But that's not journalism. This film is not journalism."
Cuomo, who is also the brother of New York's Democratic Attorney General, opened the segment by helpfully stating that Moore isn't "just taking a shot, he's got a solution.":
<<< "But first, we have Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore this morning. He's back and this time he has health care in his sights. The film is Sicko. It opens June 29. And it's interesting to note, his critics are struggling to fight his basic premise that America's health care system is in trouble. But Mr. Moore says he's not just taking a shot, he's got a solution, one he found by comparing our system of health care to countries around the world." >>>
To be fair, the ABC anchor did offer a few tough questions. Early on in the segment, he inquired as to whether Moore was creating too rosy a picture of the health care systems in other nations: "I mean, they have huge tax burdens. Do you think you pay too little attention to that in your film?"
Moore: "No. I think that the news media in this country has done a very good job of pointing out all the flaws."
However, he followed that up by showing a clip of the filmmaker's documentary. Cuomo introduced the snippet by gushing over how "powerful" some of Moore's examples were.
[This item is adapted from a posting, by Scott Whitlock, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
mrc.org |
