Nightline's Interview with Michael Moore

An Unbalanced Interview Which was More Like a Commercial

Sep 23, 2009

Michael Moore is the self proclaimed champion of the little guy. He promotes himself as the righter of wrongs. In an recent interview, his views remained unchecked.

In an interview with Terry Moran on ABC's "Nightline" Moore discusses his new film titled, "Capitalism: A Love Story." Moore asserts that capitalism itself is an evil entity, all the while excusing his own personal success and riches. The crux of the film attacks capitalism and labels it as evil. It asserts that America’s Wall Street is the home of capitalism, and therefore the source of this evil. Moore is seen in front of Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions asking for people’s money back, and generally causing trouble for the security guards working there.

When asked by Moran, at 4 minutes and 56 seconds into the interview, about his own personal success and how it relates to capitalism, Moore responds by saying, “I’m embarrassed by it in fact. That I am able to make a really descent living and so many people aren’t. And my own personal values, my own religious faith, um prohibits me from celebrating the fact that I somehow lucked out.” Moran misses one of several opportunities to balance Moore’s statements. It is also interesting that in the written story that accompanies the video, Moore's soliloquy is absent.

The watcher of this interview is lead to believe that Moore is riddled with guilt about his personal success. Moore would like the public to believe that he is somehow just lucky. Moore makes no reference to his hard work, or the tremendous amount of effort he had to expend to be successful. No, he is just lucky.

This interview, and the argument as a whole, is not balanced with any opposing point of view. It is never suggested that capitalism may have a positive side. Moore is simply allowed to subject the viewer to his opinions on capitalism without justification for those opinions.

The Real Problem

The interview never makes an effort to ask Moore about other societal models such as Marxism, Socialism, or Communism to name a few. The interview does a great job of defining a problem, but offers no solution or suggestion of a solution. Michael Moore is never put to task about how to right this evil that he claims exists.

The average annual income in the United States for 2008 according to the United States Census Bureau in a press release dated Sept. 10, 2009 is $50,303. Michael Moore is never asked why he does not donate his sizable wealth to help the poor leaving only a yearly income of $50,303. It stands to reason that if Moore feels so guilty about his wealth, and he trumpets himself as a common man, then he could ease his guilt by donating his extra income to the less fortunate.

Anyone watching this interview is lead to believe that Michael Moore’s goal is to right wrongs, to fix what’s broken, to expose evil companies for just what they are. The problem is that there is no continuity of thought. The audience is presented with a problem, but offered no solution.

It is never suggested that Michael Moore is guilty of participating and profiting off of the very system he hopes to expose. Therein lays the real issue. Michael Moore has produced several controversial films, all of which seek to expose a major systemic problem with the United States as a society. In doing so he has profited handsomely off of each one.

Moore says that there needs to be equality in the United States, and that large financial institutions need to be held accountable for taking part in capitalism. Yet his success suggests that he has profited from the same capitalist system he is accusing of being evil.

Terry Moran made no attempt to challenge Moore on any point. Opportunity after opportunity presented itself for Moran to offer a counterpoint to Moore's assertions, but those counterpoints were never suggested. If Moran would have offered a challenge or two, this would have allowed Moore to justify his claims that capitalism is evil. The absence of balance was incredible.

The Solution

It is incumbent for reporters to probe, prod, and expose issues. Well seasoned reporters require justification for assertions made. It is the very nature of investigative reporting to go beyond what is presented. It is their job to get to the heart of each matter. A reporter should present at least two views to any argument, and let the audience decide which they prefer. Failure of a unbiased reporter to represent both sides of an issue amounts to little more than an advertisement.

The copyright of the article Nightline's Interview with Michael Moore in Social Activism is owned by Curt Guillory. Permission to republish Nightline's Interview with Michael Moore in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.