MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, host of “The Ed Show,” has been in broadcasting for three decades, but a documentary was missing from his resume.
That changes tonight with the debut of “17 Days Buried Alive,” a special airing on MSNBC about the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for more than three months.
Schultz serves as the host and narrator.
But a funny thing happened in the week between the moment TheWrap set up an interview with Schultz's representatives, and when he actually got on the phone -- Occupy Wall Street became a national story.
What do the two have to do with one another?
For Schultz, both involve workers’ rights, a subject he is very passionate about.
So TheWrap talked with Schultz about media coverage of the movement, why Barack Obama needs to take a stand on it, and of course, his documentary debut.
So we are supposed to talk about your new documentary on Chile, but I heard you were on your way to the Occupy Wall Street protest. What are you planning on doing there?
Schultz: We’re going to interview some people down there and cover it, get a pulse of what their focus is. I want to see if they’ve become a little bit more focused in what their mission is.
Do you think the lack of focus prevented them from getting more media attention initially?
Do you think it was held back?
No, but some people did since they didn’t receive a ton of coverage until this past weekend. They only got people’s attention when arrests started to happened.
Here’s how I viewed it: They are protesting in a borough of 8 million people, and how many people are there? A couple thousand.
When it first started there were maybe a thousand people there, but it was in the hundreds in a city of 8 million. Well in Wisconsin, there are 250,000 people in the city of Madison, and 100,000 protesters, and there is a focus of going after a bill to reverse collective bargaining ...
Did these people vote in the last election? Where was this energy when the Republicans took over the house in 2010? Are they apathetic voters who all of a sudden felt scared and decided to do something about it? In November 2010, that election was on the heels of a record number of filibusters. Is the sleeping giant waking up late? I am curious as to what exactly this is and where it’s going to go.
From what I’ve heard, I’m very supportive of it.
Why do you think this all came about now and not before?
I think the unemployment has a lot to do with it. The lack of movement in Washington to try to rectify the situation with the economy and the obstructionist attitude that continues to play out.
