All Blog Posts from Public Eye

So have you heard there’s going to be a Democratic debate tonight? And one with normal people like you and me posing questions via streaming video? You haven’t? Just turn on CNN. Chances are you’ll find out before the next commercial break.

A few weeks ago, CNN was accused of “milking a story” when they parlayed an on-air argument between Wolf Blitzer and Michael Moore into a into a prime-time “Larry King Live” debate with CNN’s resident medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Was this low-cal Lincoln-Douglas the most scintillating hour of TV in recent memory? No, it wasn’t, but would I rather see people discuss the merits of American health care and Michael Moore’s approach to filmmaking than reading more from Paris Hilton’s diary? To quote Kevin Pollak from “A Few Good Men,” ‘Every day of the week and twice on Sundays.’

The critic in question, Jon Friedman of MarketWatch, made the case that Wolf Blitzer was fishing for sensational soundbytes and trying to grab a few extra eyeballs, at the expense of a probing interview:

Lately, CNN has stretched the definition of news to a nearly incomprehensible level. What has genuine news value and what is a thinly veiled ratings grab? CNN may have plenty of company here, but I expect a lot from this network.

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So have you heard there’s going to be a Democratic debate tonight? And one with normal people like you and me posing questions via streaming video? You haven’t? Just turn on CNN. You’ll find out before the next commercial break.

A few weeks ago, CNN was accused of “milking a story” when they parlayed an on-air argument between Wolf Blitzer and Michael Moore into a into a prime-time “Larry King Live” debate with CNN’s resident medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Was this low-cal Lincoln-Douglas the most scintillating hour of TV in recent memory? No, it wasn’t, but would I rather see people discuss the merits of American health care and Michael Moore’s approach to filmmaking than reading more from Paris Hilton’s diary? To quote Kevin Pollack from “A Few Good Men,” ‘Every day of the week and twice on Sundays.’

The critic in question, Jon Friedman of MarketWatch, made the case that Wolf Blitzer was fishing for sensational soundbytes and trying to grab a few extra eyeballs, at the expense of a probing interview:

Lately, CNN has stretched the definition of news to a nearly incomprehensible level. What has genuine news value and what is a thinly veiled ratings grab? CNN may have plenty of company here, but I expect a lot from this network.

Read full post…

The Worldwide Leader … Locked Out

In news that will overjoy America’s throngs of Jeanne Zelasko fans – what, it’s just me? -- tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be free of those pesky ESPN sportscasters. Apparently, ESPN did not adhere to the embargo rules and divulged the all-star game fan voting results a couple minutes too soon – incurring the wrath of Fox Sports. According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Major League Baseball has limited ESPN's access to Tuesday night's All-Star Game after the network broke an embargo and broadcast news of the players' selections a few minutes after an exclusive, rain-delayed telecast on TBS.

Baseball executives told ESPN that it must pare its broadcast efforts from AT&T Park in San Francisco, where the All-Star Game is being held. So, most coverage will be done out of ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Conn., rather than having "Baseball Tonight" and a portion of "SportsCenter" originate from California as planned.

Bad news for sports fans, yes. But at least it gives America’s sports talk radio hosts a topic to discuss on the dullest sports day of the year – well, that and Dan Patrick.

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Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, or FAIR, today posted a critique of CBS News chief political correspondent Jeff Greenfield's "Evening News" piece on Michael Moore's film "Sicko." You can watch the piece by clicking on the video box.

In the piece, Greenfield asserts that "no one, Democrat or Republican, has come close to advocating the kind of government-run national health system Michael Moore proposes." Writes FAIR: "This is incorrect; Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D.-Ohio), a presidential contender, supports the very same approach, as do dozens of congressmembers who have co-sponsored H.R. 676, a bill that would provide single-payer coverage in the United States."

The piece also includes a quote from Paul Ginsburg of the Center for Studying Health System Change, who says "[w]e're much less willing to have government make decisions for people than is the case in Canada and Europe." FAIR argues that "[t]hat assessment is contradicted by recent polling." It cites two recent polls to back up its argument.

I asked Greenfield to respond to the FAIR piece, which has generated more than 70 emails to Public Eye in just the past hour. He did so over email. His response in full:

FAIR's critique is not. The organization is comparing apples and oranges; actually, apples and bowling balls is more like it.

Michael Moore is very clear about what he is proposing: it is not simply a "single payer" system. What Moore advocates is a government-run system in which the doctors work for the government, as they do in Britain, Canada, and elsewhere. He devotes part of "Sicko" to an interview with a British doctor, who lives in a fine home and drives a nice car, to make his point that state-employed doctors need not face privation. Later in the film, he answers the charge of "socialized medicine" by noting that we already have "socialized" police officer, firefighters, and teachers: all of whom are public employees.

Unless I am very much mistaken, this is very different from the "single payer" system that Rep. Kucinich advocates; nor is it supported by the members of congress who back a "single payer" system. (Medicare, for example, is a government-paid system; but recipients go to the same doctors the rest of us do).

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Now you know how newspapers feel, Michael Moore.

Moore, the mad scientist of media management, has leveraged his new film “Sicko” into numerous stories of late, among them the controversy surrounding his trip to Cuba. But most recently, he's gotten some press that even he may find unwelcome: News reports on the fact that his film was pirated and uploaded onto the Internet for everyone to see.

This got me to thinking: Know who else fells your pain, Mike? America’s newspapers. Every year, the newsmedia likes to report on the fact that newspaper circulations are slipping further and further. People like to say it's a symptom of Americans' disinterest or dumbing down. It might even be Proof Of The Death Of Mainstream Media.

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