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When Fox Attacks: Greenwald Fights Back With Viral Politicking
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Filmmaker Robert Greenwald doesn't wait around for entertainment companies to distribute his movies. And while his last three films -- "Iraq for Sale," "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" and "Outfoxed: Robert Murdoch's War on Journalism" – haven't played on television or in multiplexes, they've been seen by millions of people on DVD. Now, Greenwald's taking his message straight to the Internet.
"The traditional gatekeepers don't move quickly enough," Greenwald once told me. "I'm absolutely convinced that if your goal is social change, then there's absolutely no question that alternative distribution is the only way to go."
His most recent short documentary "Fox Attacks Obama" hit the web on Wednesday; another viral video "John McCain vs. John McCain" premiered last month. Since going live, "Fox Attacks Obama" has been seen over 225,000 times on YouTube, ranked as the #5 top-rated video of the week, with nearly 2,000 comments and links from The Huffington Post and The Nation.
The three-and-half minute video applies the same tactics Greenwald used in "Outfoxed" to show how the conservative Fox News Channel has consistently run negative stories and spread misinformation about Illinois Senator Barack Obama, a Democratic candidate for President, from the petty (he smokes cigarettes) to the racist (his middle name is Hussein). "Usually, you leave attack politics to a political campaign," he says, "not a TV channel."
Greenwald is also using the video to activate voters to call on the Democratic Party of Nevada, which has announced a partnership with Fox to air the first Democratic debates this August. Voters can sign a petition being sponsored by MoveOn.org.
