Michael Moore: As liberal as the man that employs him?

[philosophie_en_rose]

Needless to say, there have been a recent proliferation of some great liberal books. Eric Alterman, Joe Conason, and Al Franken have published informative, anger-inducing, enjoyable works of political genius. "Lying Liars and the Lies they tell" sits on the shelf next to "What Liberal Bias" and Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men." Unlike their supposed peers on the Right such as No Fact Hannity and Slander Coulter, there is a great deal of accurate research and analysis.

On DU, I've read a lot about corporate ownership of the media. Michael Moore's publisher is HarperCollins - a subsidiary of Newscorps. Newscorps is the root of all Fox programming.

1. Is a purchase of Stupid White Men supporting Rupert Murdoch? Are sales of liberal books by HarperCollins a means for Newscorps to use our money against us?

2. What does it mean about Michael Moore that he is published by HarperCollins? Remember this is the man who wrote, directed, and stalked for "Roger & Me." He had the guts to be obnoxiously truthful at the Oscars and continues to at least speak on behalf of actual working class people. Didn't FOX also run Moore's television show? Is this a case of Fox finally doing something decent or is it a strange corporate relationship in a Halliburton/Cheney sort of way?

I don't ask these questions because I'm planning a boycott or anything. At most, I'll probably borrow Moore's next book from a library instead of buying it. However, Eric Alterman's ultimate question is still there. Are any of us only as liberal as the people who "own" us - from the GOP media Newscorp to some of our neocon bosses and even freeper relations?

[TroubleMan]

1. He makes money for them

That's all that matters.

It's the same thing with Randi Rhodes and Clear Channel. You CANNOT argue that Randi Rhodes is somehow a Clear Channel agent meant to deceive us. She is a true liberal. However, she makes so much money for WJNO, they can't shut her down, although they don't agree with her message.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

2. I used to be a bigtime conspiracy theorist.

..But after reading things like this, I'm glad I changed my ways. There's a point where you've got to stop going off on tangents inside your own head, trying to create fantastic theories that exist nowhere, but in your own mind.

As someone tuned into reality, it's very distracting!

[cprise]

9. I agree

I find being right all the time and knowing the Truth is quite distracting, too.
:crazy:

[jiacinto]

3. After 2000 I won't contribute a cent to Moore's bottom line

But then again, to say this at DU, turns the Nader extremists against you in droves.

[dad]

4. Ralph Nader is like a saint coming down to earth and live amongst us

And Michael Moore is like an angel brining the truth to us all.

[mrbill]

5. amen brother canigeta !!!!!!

[DCDemo]

6. Uh...so you're saying he's a fraud?

Saints don't come down to Earth, they are devout people who perform miracles and are recognized many years later by a church.

If a guy came down from wherever and claimed to be a saint, he'd be ignored or incarcerated.

[cprise]

8. Then Lisa Simpson must be the anti-Christ

...brainwashing you into liking Rupert Murdoch.

The mega-corps ALL SUCK.

And I will add that Moore gets a tremendous amount of political milage out of the fact that H-C tried to censor him. We just won a victory in Congress against further media consolidation, and I am positive "Stupid White Men" made a significant change in attitude toward that effort.

[Clete]

15. I like Michael Moore, an honest man.

Ralph Nader is a Republican. The problem is that his own party doesn't want to do business with him. Everything he does is to catch their attention while he uses the left wing idealists for his purpose.

[Terwilliger]

17. do you ever post anything else?

or are you simply beyond growth?

[cprise]

7. Since you bring that up

I don't see your name in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=2782

[jiacinto]

20. Sorry

The vote fraud stuff still doesn't excuse Nader.

[Redneck Socialist]

10. I've been told...

...that "Stupid White Men" was almost not published except for a grassroots call in campaign. It was scheduled to be released shortly after 9/11 and Harper Collins wanted to pull the plug. Foriegn editions of the book have a preface explaining the situation. Apparently HC was willing to go so far as to violate their contract with MM in order to not publish the book.

[dobak]

13. not really

It was a large group of concerned librarians who forced HarperCollins to pubish "Stupid White Men."

They wanted to scrap the book, but were worried about pissing off the librarians group - who are responsible for a large number of book purchases.

[Redneck Socialist]

16. you're right

[anti_shrub]

11. Newscorp/Fox bankrolls a lot of things

Things that take shots at ideas that are probably dear to Rupert's black little heart.

Family Guy aired on Fox and they made several anti Republican jokes, yet Fox released the series on DVD and raked in the cash.

Besides, the book industry is pretty much controlled by subsidaries of either Newscorp or Disney.

[dobak]

12. Maybe this will ease your mind

Michael Moore's new book "Dude, Where's My Country" comes out Tuesday, October 7th.

It is not published by HarperCollins (I heard him say at a speech that he would not write another book for HC).

He is now published by Warner Books.

Still a big conglomerate, but better than supporting Murdoch.

[Sweetpea]

14. Murdoch has satellite systems in China.....the bottom line is the dollar

for those guys.

[AP]

18. The more money Moore makes for himself and his publishers/distributors...

...the more likely the next thing more writes are films will reach a wide audience, and the more control he'll have over who makes money off of him, and the more of the profit he'll get to keep.

Moore's products hurt people like Murdoch way way more than they profit from them (same with the Simpsons or Buffy the Vampire Slayer) -- contributing to cultural knowledge in a liberal way is extremely powerful, and worth way more than their weight in gold, if they had a weight.

[regnaD kciN]

19. So what?

At my last job, I was a lot more liberal than the man that employed me (a rich Mormon who's been a key player in local Republican politics). Does that put my political status in question?