Vt. Congressman Interviewed for Film

Jul 26, 8:49 AM (ET)

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Rep. Bernie Sanders has a burgeoning second job: movie
star. Vermont's lone congressman is one of many legislators, journalists and
media watchdogs interviewed for "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" by director Robert
Pappas, and Robert Greenwald's latest film, "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on
Journalism."

"I'm not exactly Robert Redford," Sanders, I-Vt., joked Thursday about his
recent indie film appearances. "To me, it's a part of an effort to seize
opportunities and to get a point of view across."

Pappas' documentary takes a critical look at corporate-owned mass media,
charging that it has homogenized and filtered the news in order to push a
right-wing agenda. "Outfoxed" criticizes Fox News, accusing it of being a
conservatively biased, propagandist media outlet for the Republican cause.

In both films, Sanders speaks about corporate-owned media and its control over
what Americans see, hear and read.

"It's not an accident that the average American will see more on Scott Peterson
and Kobe Bryant than the disparity between the rich and the poor and the needs
of the middle class," Sanders said. "The most important issues facing the
American people are very rarely discussed."