The point and counter-point on Mike Starks' O'Reilly ambush is an important and fascinating dialog. A group of people otherwise united in their disgust for O'Reilly is divided in their opinion of acceptable tactics for taking him down. It's the Fight Fire with Fire side versus the "Don't Sink to Their Level" side, and each has some compelling points.
But at the end of the day, I come down on the side of the outcome. I think Stark has mistakenly elevated a story about tactics, not about substance. And this is where I think he went wrong. He wants to compare himself to Michael Moore--after all, Moore engages in a lot of stunt advocacy along with his reporting, but I think there's a fundamental difference between Moore and Stark....
Some have suggested that I'm not a journalist or a reporter because I engaged in advocacy while pursuing my work.
Wrong.
Michael Moore makes documentaries. It's journalism. It's legitimate. My diary and my movie will serve to inform. The fact that it's done in a novel way takes nothing away from the fact that I'm telling a story based on objective facts.
The problem is that the "novel way" in which Stark confronts O'Reilly steals the spotlight from the real issues. Moore doesn't make that mistake. His stunts are creative and cut to the core of the issue he's addressing. Taking ground-zero workers to Cuba is ballsy and imaginative, and cuts to the core of the issue he's addressing. It helps bring the issue of health care into sharp focus in a provocative way. Posting "Pervert" signs on the lawns of O'Reilly's neighborhood is not imaginative, and it does nothing to add depth or poignance to his topic. It's provocative in a way that is not compelling, it's just juvenile. To compare that kind of knuckleheaded stunt to the sophistication of Michael Moore is an insult.
I appreciate Mike's passion, but he needs a lot more finesse in making those stunts work in a way that adds to the debate and doesn't distract from it. And the proof is in the debate. Moore accentuates the divide between left and right. Mike has only found a divide within our own ranks. Sorry Mike. You're no Michael Moore.