Q&A with Michelle Fields BRIAN LAMB: Michelle Fields, how would you describe what you do for a living?
MICHELLE FIELDS: I am a video journalist. I would say that what we're doing is almost like citizen journalism which is basically when an individual who doesn't have that much training in journalism has the tools and modern technology to capture a live event but doesn't have a background in journalism.
So what we're doing is we're capturing raw and real moments, which is basically what people are doing with iPhones and Blackberries. As a video journalist you're now competing with people who have iPhones and Blackberries and uploading on You Tube and those are - that's what going viral.
So we're recreating that. We're asking questions that Congressmen maybe don't have the answer to. They don't have talking points for or when we're going to a protest, we're going on the ground. We're not doing what a typical journalist does, which is they go. They have their mic. They do their stand up, maybe they interview two or three people, get a B roll and put it together.
Instead we're on the ground with the protestors. If they march five miles, we march five miles with them. So that we can capture those moments that people are capturing with their iPhones and uploading on You Tube.
LAMB: You did for The Daily Caller, a website.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: I'm going to show some video of you going on Capitol Hill and we will come back and ask you what you were doing here.
FIELDS: OK.(VIDEO STARTS)
Hi, can you tell me a little bit about what you're doing here today?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: So I'm here arguing in favor of higher taxes on the wealthy. I'm one of the wealthiest ones present. In fact I'm considerably high in the hierarchy than that…
FIELDS: That's great.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: And I think we need to - we should be paying more than our share. There is a lot of talk about shared sacrifice but I haven't actually seen anybody asking the people who benefited the most from the policies that lead to the deficient, the wealthy…
FIELDS: OK, well now is your chance. I have the Department of Treasury right here, Donnette Paige (ph), would you like to donate a few thousand dollars …
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No I wouldn't.
FIELDS: Would you guys be willing to donate to the Department of Treasury?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Individually?
FIELDS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No. We believe…
FIELDS: Would you?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No. Individually I'm very philanthropically active so…
FIELDS: So you don't want to donate to the Department of Treasury?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I don't always claim all the deduction that I can so I probably pay higher taxes than theoretically I could. But I don't think we can solve the problem just with deductions. Just with contributions.(VIDEO ENDS).
LAMB: What did you expect to get and did you get it?
FIELDS: I didn't know what to expect. It was a question that a lot of people wanted answered when Warren Buffet first came out and said he wanted higher taxes. This was a question that a lot of people were asking. Well why doesn't he just donate and I didn't see any reporters asking that question to him.
So, I saw this as an opportunity to ask a question that I felt a lot of people wanted answered and I don't know what to expect so I don't think - I thought one of them would wind up donating because it's what they believe in, right. But no one ended up donating to me, to the government.
LAMB: Not many people get a chance to interview people in the hallways up there. How did you get that?
FIELDS: They had a press conference so I just went up them. I asked them if I could just ask them a few questions about what they were doing there and see if they were willing to have an interview with me.
LAMB: And what was your reaction to what they said to you?
FIELDS: I thought it was hypocritical. I think if you really believe in something it doesn't matter if other people ardent doing it. You do. So I just thought it was very hypocritical of them.
LAMB: Let's watch just a little bit more of that particular series of interviews.(VIDEO STARTS)
FIELDS: Hi, I have here the Treasury Department's Web site where you can donate money to help reduce the public debt. Would you be willing …
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: …tell anybody.
FIELDS: I'm not part of the 1 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Well that's OK you can donate money just as well as I can and do you think that will help.
FIELDS: Well, I'm not here asking for higher taxes. You are though, right?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: That's right.
FIELDS: So I have right here…
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: …some people who can afford them.
FIELDS: Like yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: That's right.
FIELDS: So right here I have the donation page. All you need to do is put in your credit card number and you can donate to the government.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: That is not going to help anybody.
FIELDS: So you don't want to donate to the government?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I want our class to be - you've heard me. You're being silly.
FIELDS: You don't want to donate right now to the government?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I don't want to donate right now.
FIELDS: I'm here at the Treasury Department's donation page where you can help reduce the debt. Would you be willing to donate a few thousand dollars?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: If rates are raised across the board for rich people, Absolutely, I'd be very happy to do it.
FIELDS: But you won't do it …
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: …individual. Look this is not charity. We're not doing charity here. Taxes are not charity. They're not voluntary. They are something that society commits to do together and that's what I think we have to do for rich people as well as middle class…
FIELDS: So you're not willing to give to the Department of Treasury voluntarily?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: It would be of no impact whatsoever.
FIELDS: It's a matter - it's a step in the right direction.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Absolutely not. It would be inflately puny and ineffective.
We all have to hold hands and do it together. Any one individual is just for show.
FIELDS: So you're not willing to donate any money to the Department of Treasury?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I want to pay my fair share but I want …
FIELDS: I'm giving you an opportunity.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I think that's a joke and I'm not interested.(VIDEO ENDS).
LAMB: Did anybody take you up on your offer?
FIELDS: No one. They all said no.
LAMB: Why do you think that's the case?
FIELDS: Well, they think that everyone else needs to do it in order for there to be any difference made but I feel like, like I said if you believe something, it doesn't matter. You don't need everyone else to be forced into doing it. You do it. If that's really what you believe in, I don't see why you need everyone else to be coerced into doing it as well.
LAMB: So you interviewed all these people, did any of them give you any back talk off camera?
FIELDS: No but there were some people who were part of the patriotic millionaires who saw me interviewing them. When I asked for an interview they just turned their back on me and didn't even want to do an interview.
LAMB: What did you do with the video that we just saw?
FIELDS: We put it up on the Web site.
LAMB: On the Daily Caller
FIELDS: We put it up on the Daily Caller. And yes, it just took off from there. It went viral on a lot of - went on a lot of political blogs and everything. And we got I think we got about 400,000 views on it.
LAMB: Why do you think it worked?
FIELDS: Because it's a combination of both the news and entertainment. And I feel like a lot of the reporters that were there, they covered the event as well. They asked questions such as what are you doing here and a lot of general questions. But it doesn't have that element of entertainment and that's what we're bringing. People want videos now. And we are combing fun and news and it went viral.
LAMB: Born in southern California, graduated from Pepperdine University about 18 months ago?
FIELDS: Yes. In May actually.
LAMB: 2010?
FIELDS: No, no. 2011.
LAMB: 2011?
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: How does somebody walk out of that environment right into this town, right into something like this?
FIELDS: I'm pretty hard working. I was very active when I was in Los Angeles. I did a lot of political activism. So I think I maybe caught the eye of some people in D.C. who were interested in what I was doing. I organized a lot of liberty groups on campuses in Los Angeles area and I held a conference at my university. I held events so I think maybe that's how I just transitioned into here. People had already seen my work that I was doing ion LA.
LAMB: What was your major?
FIELDS: Political science.
LAMB: All right. We have another clip that somebody my age remembers these two people. For the entire time I've been in Washington, and you weren't even close to being born at the time that they were active and I want to run it and it's a book party for Chris Matthews. And the two individuals are Bob Woodworth and Ben Bradley. Let's watch this and I want you to tell me what you know about these two people.(VIDEO STARTS)
FIELDS: Tell me what you're doing here today.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I - having me a drink. I'm talking to Chris, celebrating his excellent book.
FIELDS: How you read it?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I have actually read it. You can quiz me on it.
FIELDS: Last question, what are your thought on the accusations against Herman Cain?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I don't have any thoughts.
FIELDS: No thoughts?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Except for that subject is a serious one.
FIELDS: A serious one. Do you have any advice for him?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No. Journalists should give advice but I think that the issue of sexual harassment I know is a big deal. And you can't just kind of blow it off. You've got to answer the questions and so as my old boss Ben Bradley who is standing over there use to say, the truth emerges.
FIELDS: Do you think it was racially motivated?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No. Who you working for?
FIELDS: I run the Daily Caller.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: OK.
FIELDS: So what are you doing here today?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I'm just hanging out.
FIELDS: Yes? Are you here for the book?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Yes, I mean, I'm here for the book and Chris is an old, old, old friend of mine. And I've written a couple of books about Kennedy myself. So it's a subject that I know a little about.
FIELDS: So what makes this book difference from all the Kennedy books?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Oh, it's by Chris Matthews.
FIELDS: What makes it better than all - why should I read this …?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I didn't say it was better. I didn't say it was better than mine. No, I mean everybody that - the thing that's interested me, I mean Chris is enough younger than me that he brings the perspective that I didn't have and I was very interested in that. And no, I mean I think - I read all Kennedy books. All Kennedy books and some of them I don't remember. This one I will remember.
FIELDS: Yes? Why will you remember this one? What's so great about this one?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Because I like the guy that wrote it and I liked the guy he wrote it about. That's enough.
FIELDS: Yes. Yes. Yes, I know that's enough. And what are your thoughts on the accusations against Herman Cain?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I think he's got it coming to him, doesn't he?
FIELDS: Do you have any advice for him?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: What?
FIELDS: Do you have any advice for him?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Run for the round house.
FIELDS: Do you think that any - some people are saying that they're racially motivated. Do you believe that? No?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: That's bull shit.
FIELDS: Believe that?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No I just don't believe that at all. No, I mean you can't do that in this town anymore. You probably could do it 50 years ago but you can't do it now. And he is achieved a lot and his race didn't bother him all those achievements. So don't bring up his race now just when he stumbles.(VIDEO ENDS).
LAMB: What did you think of all that?
FIELDS: I thought it's interesting because if they had done that back when they were at the height of their career, I mean that would never, that would not be a story. But I put that up and it gets almost a million views. They would never, I mean they were, they worked an era where they didn't have videos like this and there was no such thing as late - that would never go viral.
So it's interesting how much journalism has changed that that would be considered news and very interesting.
LAMB: Why did you pick the Chris Matthews book party, his book on John F. Kennedy to go take your camera?
FIELDS: I figured that there would be a lot of interesting people there and it's a cocktail party. There will be lots of insiders there that may want do an interview with me and people like that. People want to see off the cuff stuff. They want to see people when they don't have their talking points, when they're, when they don't have their press person around. And that's the perfect opportunity.
They maybe had a drink. They're in comfortable environment. They're more willing to say the truth, what they really believe. I'm sure if I interview Ben Bradley as a sit down interview in this environment, he probably wouldn't have said what he said. He was much more comfortable, much more relaxed and that's what people want.
I don't know if it's because we live this world where reality television dominates entertainment but people want to see real raw moments. And that's what I gave them.
LAMB: Did you know who Bob Woodward was and Ben Bradley before you got to the party?
FIELDS: Yes. Well - Yes, I did. And probably my era knows them because they've seen the films about Watergate scandal. So yes, but I did know who they were but it's totally different from what I'm doing.
I mean they're the fathers of journalism basically over at the Washington Post but what I'm doing is much different than what they're doing but I still consider it journalism.
LAMB: I can remember when people would be a nervous wreck talking to either one of them. Were you nervous at all?
FIELDS: No. No, I wasn't.
LAMB: What do you think they thought you were up to? Did they have any idea what the Daily Caller was?
FIELDS: Ben Bradley said he did. I don't think Woodward knew who the Daily Caller was. I'm not sure. He didn't say that he did but I think - I don't think they were focused on that. They were in a really comfortable environment and I don't think they were suspicious of anything or thought much of it.
They were OK sure, I'll ask, I'll answer a few questions.
LAMB: So who owns the Daily Caller?
FIELDS: Well, Neil Patel is the CEO and Tucker Carlson is our editor.
LAMB: And what kind of a charge have they given you?
FIELDS: What do you mean a charge?
LAMB: In other words they've said, Michelle Fields go out and do this? I mean what's your mission?
FIELDS: My - I do the video stuff. So they don't really tell me what to do. They provide me with a lot of creative freedom. They trust me. They trust my instincts. They understand that I get the Internet and that's sort of something that they're not used to and they offer me advice when I'm editing but they don't tell me what to do. They trust my instincts.
We have a young video department and I think they - they know that we understand what works on the Internet.
LAMB: So what did you think that - about what Bob Woodworth said about journalists should be giving advice?
FIELDS: I think that's a different world. Now people want bias journalism I feel. They want to hear the journalism either tell them what they want to hear or tell them what their opinion is and what they think about it. We have such polarized news now. It's a much different world.
LAMB: What do you think of it?
FIELDS: I think, I think it's different. I think it's impossible to not be bias. So I don't think that - I don't think that there is a need to try to not be bias because it's impossible to be bias even if you were interviewing someone, you decide what you think is important, what you think people would like. Your still - you still have biases and so I don't see the problem with bias reporting.
Reporting from a certain angle. People feel - people who read my stuff watch my videos. They feel as though their voice is not in the media and so I'm providing a voice for them and I think that's great. They feel as though they're not represented in the media and they e-mail me and tell me you're the only person in the media that I trust.
And I think that's important. They feel that there is not a voice for them in the media and I'm providing it for them.
LAMB: Recently you were invited to appear on the Alyona Show.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: Alyona has been here and we had the same kind of conversation. Why did you go on the show?
FIELDS: She does an online show. And it does well on the Internet and I figured it was a good opportunity.
LAMB: She is not that much older than you are.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: She has her daily one hour show.
FIELDS: Yes. Like me, she understands what works on the Internet, what doesn't. And it's two young people. It's a perfect opportunity to talk what I believe in and for it go on You Tube and spread.
LAMB: She is on Russia Today or RT as they call it. Let's look at a little bit of your visit there.(VIDEO STARTS)
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Next November should they find new candidates? Are there enough new candidates? Or should they sit at home?
FIELDS: Well we had a poll done at Reason. It showed that have been 80 percent of Americans say that they'd be open to voting for a candidate from a third party. So I mean I don't know really if there is a candidate out there that's viable to a third party candidate but I would love to see there be more options rather than just the Republicans and the Democrats because people are upset and they're unhappy with both of them.(VIDEO ENDS).
LAMB: Who is watching that kind of show and your kind of video? Do you have any sense of what the age group is?
FIELDS: Young people. I mean probably 18 to 30 is that people who are watching it. a lot of our videos they - when videos go viral, they start on Web sites like reddit.com. And that's filled with thoughts of young people. So …
LAMB: You said read it?
FIELDS: Reddit, R-E-D-D-I-T.com. It's just a bunch of forums and yes, it starts there and it goes viral.
LAMB: Do you watch the mainstream, so-called mainstream media?
FIELDS: A little bit. I mean what I do in the morning is I do not really go to that many Web sites. I go to my Twitter. I go to my Facebook and I look at what they posted. And so, I look at what my friends liked and I click on it and sometimes it is to the mainstream media so I click on that and I look at it but I do not go out of my way to visit The New York Times or The Washington Post.
It is usually, I am going through my Twitter feed or my Facebook feed.
LAMB: This media world has changed so dramatically in the last 40 years. Have you - when you were going to school at Pepperdine, did you ever talk about that? Did you ever study the way the media used to be versus what it is now?
FIELDS: No. I did not take very many media classes. Most of what I took was political science, so not too much. I feel like it is a given. I mean everyone - that is what we have grown up with. It is hard to imagine anything different.
LAMB: You lost your father in, I think, 2002. Who was he and what impact did he have on your life?
FIELDS: My father was Greg Fields. He was a writer, a comedian. He wrote a lot of shows, Full House, In Living Color, Back to School. He was probably the most real person I have ever known. He grew up in Kentucky. He was a man of faith, of great values and when he went to Los Angeles and became this big time writer he never changed.
I mean he never drove a luxury car. He was still the same guy from Kentucky. He donated money. When he donated, he did so anonymously. He taught us that money meant nothing. And he told us that we should be who we are and stay true to ourselves. And he led by example.
He showed us that it is possible even in a world like Hollywood that you can still remain yourself. And I think that that has had a tremendous impact on me.
LAMB: I am smiling because it is my era but did he really open acts for Brook Benton, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry as a comedian?
FIELDS: I think so. I do not even know who those people are.
LAMB: That is what I thought you might say.
FIELDS: I have no clue. Maybe. If that is what you found.
LAMB: You have never heard of any of them?
FIELDS: No, I do not know who they are.
LAMB: I thought that might be a connection with our two eras. But he also wrote for Pat Sajak and the Tonight Show and the Simpsons and all that. How old was he when he died and what did he die of?
FIELDS: He was 46. He died of a heart attack.
LAMB: And what was his political line in life?
FIELDS: He was conservative.
LAMB: How conservative?
FIELDS: Very conservative. Very very conservative. And my mother is more liberal.
LAMB: How much more liberal?
FIELDS: She is a moderate. She is not too much liberal but she leans - I would say she is a moderate who has liberal tendencies.
LAMB: Define your own views. If you put a label of any kind on them.
FIELDS: Pro liberty.
LAMB: What does that mean?
FIELDS: I believe in economic freedom. I believe in social freedom. I respect people's individual decisions and I believe that people can make reasonable choices for themselves and I am suspicious of this idea that government can make people better, can make the economy better by forcing people to do things they do not want to do.
LAMB: But what do you mean by economic freedom? What would be the reverse of economic freedom or the opposite of it?
FIELDS: Lots of regulation. I believe that individuals should have the ability to choose how they produce, how they sell their resources so long as they respect the rights of others.
LAMB: What is your impression of Washington after you have been here how long?
FIELDS: Since May. I was very excited in the beginning and now I feel as though it is just filled with power hungry people. That is my impression.
LAMB: What gave you that idea?
FIELDS: Everywhere you go, everyone just wants to know what you do. They are trying to figure out what your resume is and if they feel they can not get something from you, they move on. Everyone is just going to cocktail parties, schmoozing with people that they may not like but they feel they can get something from. I think it is quite sad.
LAMB: Did you not know that before you came here?
FIELDS: I heard people say that but to me Washington D.C. just sounded so amazing. It was so different than Los Angeles and I figured it would be a wonderful opportunity. So many people are intellectual and Los Angeles, all everyone talks about is how they want to be a model or an actress.
And so, I figured I am going to go somewhere where people are so educated. I can talk about so many issues with them and they will understand what I am saying. I guess I am a bit disenchanted.
LAMB: Pepperdine. Is it Malibu? I assume you are on that campus that is …
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: … very high. It looks down over …
Fields: The Ocean.
… the Pacific Ocean. What impact did that school have on you? What is the political philosophy of the school?
FIELDS: The school is very conservative. I do not think I could have picked a better university. It is unlike any other. If you go to most college campuses everyone is just drinking. There are a lot of frats. Everyone is just partying. And at Pepperdine, it is a whole other atmosphere.
Everyone on the weekends, they are going to volunteer and they are thinking of ways that they can join groups and maybe go to Africa or go to Central America for spring break to help out and build homes. So, that certainly had an impact on me and I was able to really make a difference on campus and so, yes.
LAMB: Is it a religious school?
FIELDS: Yes, Church of Christ.
LAMB: Is there a lot of religion in the school?
FIELDS: Yes there is.
LAMB: How important was that to you?
FIELDS: I do not consider myself a very religious person so that was not that important to me. I believe in a higher power. I believe in doing good and so a lot of people there felt the same way. Their values aligned with mine so it felt like a perfect fit.
LAMB: We have some video of you going to Occupy Wall Street. When did you do that?
FIELDS: I did that November 17th.
LAMB: And why?
FIELDS: They were going to occupy and shut down Wall Street and I felt like is- was a perfect opportunity to go there and capture that moment and I thought that it is something that people would enjoy watching.
LAMB: Let's watch some of it and get your reaction to it.(VIDEO STARTS)
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: The whole world is watching.
Come on.
Fucking juice man.
The whole world is watching.
Police brutality.
Get back. Get Back. Back up.
Get back, you fucking pervert.
Be careful all right.
The whole world is watching.
Just walk. Just walk. Just walk.
Make sure she is all right.
Just keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking.
Are you OK?
Keep walking.
No.
Keep walking.
Just hop on the side walk. Just hop on the side walk and role over …
Stay here.
FIELDS: I can not believe he just shoved me down. I was not doing anything. He shoved me up against the taxi.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Did you record that? We need to put this on Facebook.(VIDEO ENDS)
LAMB: So, what is the point of all of that? What were they doing with you? Why were you emotional about?
FIELDS: We were down on the ground where we were obviously at risk of covering the protesters and we ended up getting in the middle of it when the police decided that they wanted them off the streets and shoved them onto the sidewalks.
We decided to put this up because I think it shows a different side to Occupy Wall Street. Before I went to Occupy Wall Street, I thought that these people were violent. I mean that is what I saw on news. These people are horrible. You read all these things that they are raping women. They are violent with the police officers but when I went there, these people were so kind and they were not violent at all.
It was the police officers that were the aggressive ones. They were the ones instigating the violence. And although that doesn't follow the narrative that people who read our Web site would like to hear, it was something that was happening. That these people are not as violent as people are making them out to be. They are actually quite kind and they helped me up.
And also, I think it is interesting that the guy says lets put this on Facebook because it shows that with this new internet world, one voice, my voice, anyone's voice can be just as loud as The New York Times or The Washington Post. You can just put a video up on the internet and it is distributed globally.
LAMB: What had happened to you? You are right in the middle of that. We can see you there and you are down on the ground at some point. How did that happen? I mean, who was pushing you down?
FIELDS: The police officers. My camera girl and I were in front of the protestors as they were marching down the street and we were getting footage of them marching down. And at that moment the police officers decided oh OK we do not want them on the street anymore.
Let's just shove them back into the park. So they came up. They came with batons and I ended up just getting in the middle of it because I could not move. There was a car in front of me and there were cops around me and protesters and they wanted us to get on the sidewalks but the sidewalks were completely filled with people so there was nowhere for me to move.
So, the police officer hit me in the back with the baton and I fell on to the car, fell to the ground and I got back up. I am not sure if it was the same police officer but I got hit back down again.
LAMB: There is a still picture of you where you are right down on the ground in the middle and I think that actually - I think I first saw that tweeted out. Who tweeted the picture out?
FIELDS: I tweeted the picture out. I was instantly - it went up on the Daily Mail and my boy friend called me and said hey, you know, are you OK? I saw this photo on The Daily Mail and I just got it off The Daily Mail's Web site.
LAMB: You are not talking about the London Daily Mail?
FIELDS: Yes and I tweeted it out and then people started retreating it all over.
LAMB: Explain the tweeting, re-tweeting and all that to someone that says I do not know anything of that stuff. What is it?
FIELDS: OK. So, you can write - there are only a certain amount of characters that you can …
LAMB: One hundred and forty.
FIELDS: One hundred and forty, yes. And so you just write sentences. So, quick snarky sentences or comments or you tweet out a article and then that shows up on the people who are following you. So, people follow your account and what you tweet goes on their account and they can read that.
LAMB: Do you feel a power when you are able to do this?
FIELDS: I feel as thought Twitter and Facebook have enabled people who maybe, are not in the media, they do not have a loud voice to become one of the loudest voices in media. And we see people like Matt Drudge who has no connection to the media. He is a political outsider and look how far he has come.
He took advantage. He saw this potential, this new medium which is the internet journalism and his voice is just as loud as the media establishment.
LAMB: How is it that The Daily Mail of London used the twit-pic that you sent out, the picture of you and that your boyfriend - where does he live by the way?
FIELDS: He lives in Los Angeles.
LAMB: How did he happen to be looking at The Daily Mail?
FIELDS: He writes in Hollywood. He is a comedy writer so he is constantly reading the news and it is just one of the Web sites that he goes to and it was on the front page when he got there.
LAMB: Did The Daily Mail have to ask your permission to use it?
FIELDS: No. A European photographer was at the protests and he took the photo of it. I suppose he sold it to The Daily Mail and then I just got it on my I-Phone, downloaded it, tweeted it.
LAMB: What do you think of the occupy effort all over the country?
FIELDS: I think that - I understand that they are frustrated. I think that they should be targeting government, not Wall Street or targeting them equally. Because it is both of their fault. I do not understand why they are on Wall Street, why not everyone come here?
I mean, it is crony capitalism which is what they are fighting so why are they just singling out Wall Street?
LAMB: The conservatives take pot shots at the occupy group and the liberals took pot shots all the time at the Tea-Party group. What is your reaction to that and why is it that people automatically take sides for and against when they as you say do not really know the facts?
FIELDS: Well, the protests are driven by unions and obviously the right does not like that. They believe George Soros, someone like that is helping to fund these protests and they say the same thing about the Tea-Party, Koch is funding it. There are these narratives that people come up with and that video where I am thrown down and Occupy Wall Street is helping me and they come off very kind, I have got lots of hate mail from conservatives very upset with me for putting that up.
And I think it is silly. I mean if that is the truth, if that is really what happened, I do not see the problem with putting that up.
LAMB: Here is some video that also went viral about education. The man you interviewed here is a man named Matt Damon, an actor. Before we go to that, what was the point of this? Why were you there? Why were you interviewing him?
FIELDS: It was a teachers' union rally. I had just graduated from college and Nick Gillespie from Reason TV contacted me and said that he would be interested in me hosting a few of their videos and to try it out. And this was the first video that I did for Reason TV. Him and Jim Epstein who was the camera man, they told me oh, do not worry, it is just going to be this small protest.
People probably will not even be there and we can sort of just get you in there and see if you like it, see how it works, it will not be a big deal. So, I went and it ended up going viral.
LAMB: We are going to show it in a second but before I leave that, who was the videographer that was with you?
FIELDS: Jim Epstein.
LAMB: No, I am talking about before at Occupy Wall Street, we did not …
FIELDS: Occupy Wall Street, Direna Cousins. She is a girl who just graduated from college as well and she does my videos.
LAMB: She does all your videos?
FIELDS: Her and Grace Stafford.
LAMB: And they work for The Daily Caller?
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: OK but going back to this reason - you were working for Reason TV?
FIELDS: Yes, just free lance. This was my first video. Nick just wanted to see how I did.
LAMB: Let's look.(VIDEO STARTS)
FIELDS: Do you think it is good for the students or bad for the students that teachers are guaranteed their jobs for life?
UNEDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: First of all teachers are not guaranteed their jobs for life. They way you ask that question, you act like that is a fact. Teachers have never been guaranteed their jobs for life. Teachers that are incompetent can always be fired. If that were a fact that would be horrible.
FIELDS: In acting there is a job security right? There is an incentive to work hard and be a better actor because you want to have a job so why is it not like that for teachers?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Do you think job insecurity is what makes me work hard?
FIELDS: Well you have an incentive to work harder but if there is job security …
MATT DAMON, MOVIE STAR, ACTOR: I want to be an actor. It is not an incentive. That is the thing. You see, you take this MBA style thinking right. It is the problem with ED policy right now. It is this intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex then that. It is like saying a teacher is going to get lazy when they have tenure.
A teacher wants to teach. I mean, why else would you take a shitty salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really loved to do it?
DAMON: I am so sorry. Oh God.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Ten percent in our (inaudible). Ten percenters (INAUDIBLE) bad.
Where did you get that number?
I don't know. Ten percent in any (INAUDIBLE) maybe should think of something else.
DAMON: Well OK but I mean maybe you are a shitty camera man. I do not know.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Teachers were fired from Harvard University because of allegations about their Communist Party membership. That is called the real world. OK, not political science seminar, libertarianism 101. That is what happens. And I think that this carried over to teaching.
FIELDS: So, are first grade teachers intellectuals that need to be protected?
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I hope they are. I hope that they have studied child development.(Video Ends)
LAMB: Did they know who you were?
FIELDS: No. Of course not.
LAMB: Did they care who you were?
FIELDS: No.
LAMB: and what was your reaction to what they all said?
FIELDS: I think they're wrong especially Matt Damon.
LAMB: What was he really saying? And that was his mother standing next to him?
FIELDS: Well he was saying that teachers love to teach, that they wanted to do it and so there is no reason if they get tenure that they're automatically just going to become lazy but that's not true. I mean teachers make great salaries. They get great compensation. They get great benefits.
There is a reason why teachers want to teach. There are a lot of benefits and to guarantee some one their job, I mean it was - with any profession that may make them lazy. They don't have an incentive to work harder when they're guaranteed their job.
LAMB: Where did you first get that idea? That position on teaching and tenure?
FIELDS: When I went to school I saw teachers who had tenure who didn't care at all about their students, about their classes, about their lectures. And you hear students they say oh she has tenure, that's why she's like that.
LAMB: Did you believe that?
FIELDS: Yes. I did.
LAMB: So when you think back on your education, you went to high school where?
FIELDS: Calabasas High School.
LAMB: Calabasas High School.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: Where is that?
FIELDS: It is in Calabasas, California.
LAMB: And where is that in relation to say LA?
FIELDS: Its 15 minutes from Malibu. It's right outside the Valley.
LAMB: And when you think back on your early high school education, and your Pepperdine education, you also had a community college in there or…
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: Which one?
FIELDS: Community College.
LAMB: What do you, what do you remember?
FIELDS: I didn't enjoy it. I wasn't really challenged. I didn't care about high school at all. There was no one challenging me. Teachers didn't really care about their classes. I think many of them had the same lesson that they did 10 year prior.
So, they - and then when I went to Pepperdine, it was a completely different situation. We were in classrooms with 12 people. We had teachers who would, a professor would just invite us to their house for their lesson or we would go down to the beach and have a lesson.
And they really cared about me personally and professionally.
LAMB: Why do you think that was the case at Pepperdine?
FIELDS: Probably because it's a private school.
LAMB: Did the private versus public matters…
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: …you think?
FIELDS: Yes. I mean I speak to people who go to public schools and they're in classrooms with 300 students so there is a difference in quality.
LAMB: Go back to your interview with Matt Damon. What impact did that - that went on Reason TV?
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: And viral was - how many people watched that?
FIELDS: I think almost 2 million.
LAMB: Why would 2 million people care about that?
FIELDS: I think it's because there is a movie start in it and he gets angry and people like to see celebrities when they're - like unfiltered content. And he was off the cuff. He wasn't expecting that question and then he gets very confrontational and aggressive. People liked seeing that.
LAMB: What did you think of him?
IELDS: I thought…
LAMB: Not necessarily about what he said but just the whole …
FIELDS: His actions?
LAMB: His involvement, his activism.
FIELDS: I think he is like most Hollywood stars. They get sucked into that world, everyone is liberal and I think he just argues from an emotion, not really logic.
LAMB: Thinking back on your father and yourself, how do you stay in that environment then conservative or libertarian?
FIELDS: Well I have values and it doesn't matter if I live in Hollywood or if I live in D.C. or if in different part of the world, I still stick to my beliefs. I'm not going to change because everyone else around me changes.
LAMB: Here is some video of - from November of 2010. It's on something called Bureaucrash.com.
FIELDS: Bureau crash
LAMB: What is bureau crash?
FIELDS: It's, it's a group that works within the competitive enterprise institute and they help students out with active - who are active on campus.
LAMB: And it profiles in activitism and its something about a free speech wall.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: And that you were in school at the time. How - explain what you're involved in.
FIELDS: So I was the president of the Pepperdine Libertarians when I was at Pepperdine. And I wanted to have an event to commemorate the founding fathers for Constitution Day. So I thought it would be great - a free speech wall where individuals could say what ever they want honestly. And exercise their right to freedom of speech.
LAMB: Well there is a reference somewhere I remember hearing. There were Pepperdine didn't have, they had some - some restrictions on free speech.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: What kind of restrictions where there?
FIELDS: They have free speech codes. They can write anything on the wall without getting it stamped and approved. You can't post anything on any of the walls in Pepperdine without getting it approved and you have to write who you are and you can say anything or write anything that will offend someone.
So there is a lot of restriction.
LAMB: So when we see this video, where, where is this happening? Is it on the campus itself?
FIELDS: Yes. It's in the middle of campus which is the busiest part of campus. Before I did it, I got in touch with the Dean of Disciplinary Action and I asked him if it would OK if we did this for Constitution Day and he said yes. so we put up the wall of the entire week.
LAMB: Let's look at the video.(VIDEO STARTS)
FIELDS: I'm Michelle Fields. I'm with the Pepperdine College Libertarians. I am a college libertarian. And we had a free speech wall for Constitution Week.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Welcome to Profiles in Activitism. September 17th is Constitution Day celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution at the Constitutional convention.
Michelle Fields, president of College Libertarians at Pepperdine University saw an opportunity to use the holiday to promote freedom of speech. Michelle lead a coalition of politically inclined student groups in the construction and maintenance of a free speech wall covering the wall of the campus building with paper and providing markers for passer by to write whatever they wanted.
FIELDS: Pepperdine has a lot of free speech restrictions. So I thought that If we could had a free speech wall where there is Absolute free speech, this would be something that would draw a lot of attention to and would in effect like make people understand and acknowledge that its constitution week. So I think that was probably the best project and audience that I was working with, the students that I was working with.
I think that there were some comedic comments on there which of course comes with freedom of speech but for the most part I was really impressed by how serious the comments were. Of course we had silly comments but there were also really substantial comments.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: The event was the talk of the campus spawning three different articles in the school paper. Despite the success of the event it required only about a week of planning. That's because Michelle did a good job using the resources available to her.
Pepperdine makes paper available to student groups for free and she paid for the markers herself. Michelle says that her choice of issue made coalition building easier.
FIELDS: I think it just focus on an issue that everyone can agree on or as many can agree on, I mean don't pick something that not everyone is going to agree on like the ending the Federal Reserve. If you want to build a coalition you need to something that everyone can be sympathize with and want to advance.(VIDEO ENDS).
LAMB: So the technique that we saw there, the head shot of you, was that all planned for a purpose and to elicit a following of some kind?
FIELDS: What do you mean the head shot of me?
LAMB: Well, it was only a head shot of you…
FIELDS: OK. Well, we were Skyping.
LAMB: Ahh.
FIELDS: So the competitive enterprise institute which has bureau crash in it, they work here in D.C. and they wanted to interview me so we go on Skype. Are you familiar with Skype?
LAMB: Oh yes.
FIELDS: OK. And we just did an interview through Skype.
LAMB: How often do you use Skype?
FIELDS: Every night. My boyfriend lives in LA so we Skype every evening.
LAMB: Explain what that means.
FIELDS: So we log on and you just call the person. It's completely free and you see a video of them and you can talk. Sometimes I will cook dinner while my boyfriend is watching and we're talking. And it's like he is in the kitchen.
LAMB: So what impact do you think all of this is having on your life? I mean you've lived with this how long? How long do you feel this independence and connection through technology?
FIELDS: Well, I think I started using the Internet a lot of when I was in about the sixth grade, seventh grade. Its - I'm spoiled. I have so much information I can, any answer I want I don't have to go to an encyclopedia. All I do is go to Wikipedia and I instantly have it.
So it's allowed me to get information so much more easily and make friends and create a network of people from all over the world.
LAMB: And is that all good?
FIELDS: Yes. I think so. and I was interested in promoting the ideas of liberty so when I was in college it, the Internet provided me so much opportunity because I could talk to people from different countries, different universities who had questions and I can give them ideas that they can use on their campuses so I think its wonderful.
I think there is a lack of privacy but you get so much good in return.
LAMB: Can you go back to your - you know where did you get this idea of being interested in all this?
FIELDS: My freshman year of college my brother introduced me to Robert Noziack and his book Anarchy State Utopia. And he introduced me to Ayn Rand and Frederick Bosteod. And I instantly realized that's what I was. I was a libertarian.
And it just so happens at that same moment Ron Paul came on the scene so there was just this explosion of young people like me who had just discovered libertarianism and it was almost like we took over the Internet.
The Ron Paul people were everywhere, every forum you went on, every video you watched there was some argument and someone saying you should vote for Ron Paul and it was just very exciting. There were the Ron Paul forums had thousands of people exchanging ideas, putting recommendations. And it was just a very exciting moment.
LAMB: Are you a Ron Paul follower?
FIELDS: I like Ron Paul, yes.
LAMB: Do you see Ron Paul as president of the United States?
FIELDS: I could. I'd like to see that.
LAMB: He is close to 77 years old. That doesn't matter to you?
FIELDS: No.
LAMB: He had never run anything but a medical office. That doesn't matter to you?
FIELDS: He's been a Congressman for over 10 years.
LAMB: And do you - you said that you've become a little more cynical since you've been in Washington.
FIELDS: Yes.
LAMB: The closer you get to this, what do you want - what's your reaction to it all.
FIELDS: My reaction to the election or?
LAMB: Politicians that chance, I mean what condition do you find the country in right now?
FIELDS: A bad condition. I see that people are very unhappy. And people are struggling and then in D.C. I think there was some poll that came out that D.C. is the only place where people feel that things are getting better.
So the Beltway is - it's so ridiculous. It's nothing like real America.
LAMB: What chances could a Ron Paul walk into this city given the way this city is set up and have an impact on it?
FIELDS: I think he can have a huge impact. I think his ideas, his passion, his record, his integrity speaks to a lot of people. They really enjoy it.
LAMB: What was your brother doing that he introduced you to all this and why was he into libertarianism?
FIELDS: My brother found out about libertarianism on the Internet and I knew he was libertarian for quite a while. I remember thinking oh he likes this crazy guy, Ron Paul, I don't know who he is but - I mean everyone says that he is crazy, I don't even know.
And then finally he, I was asking him for a reading recommendations and he gave that to me and I said oh, I'll give it a shot. And I was politically apathic before then and then when I read that it was really life changing.
I have been fiscally conservative but when I was around conservatives I always just felt uncomfortable when they would talk about gay rights or medical marijuana and I finally read something where there were people who were like me, who believed in both social and economic freedom.
LAMB: Earlier this year, at Pepperdine in March, the college of returns held a protest against the TSA searches. What was the point?
FIELDS: The point was to draw attention to the new policies that the TSA had implemented. Pepperdine University is politically apathic. They're conservative but no one is really political on campus.
And we decided for convocation which is this big event that people go to every week. You have to go to. We would have the convocation security administration and pat people down as a way of showing people and bringing attention to the new policies that the TSA had implemented.
LAMB: Let's watch a little bit of video on this.
FIELDS: OK.(VIDEO STARTS)
So Pepperdine College, the Rotarians created the convocation security administration. Convocation was held every Wednesday morning and normally students come in their pajamas and they're slouching in and they're really tired, holding coffee, not really caring about what they're coming to listen to.
We spoke to students before hand and we had them submit voluntarily to pat downs. And we did this as a way to demonstrate to students the policies of the TSA has implemented.
Some people think that civil libertarians are being unreasonable but we're simply trying to hold the government to the same standards that you and I hold each other to every day.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: No don't take my liberty.
No it can't be, there is no way.
FIELDS: Ma'am, why don't you place this into a plastic bag? You're coffee is over here. It and everything else will not be let taken into the building.
Sir, we can't allow you to wear this belt to convocation.
Because the TSA has a monopoly over airline security, people don't have the freedom to choose the level of scrutiny that they're placed under when they want to fly. Who will be concerned that in five or ten years, that people will be scanned outside the grocery store or patted down outside of sporting events.
So that's why today outside of convocation, we set setup convocation security administration.
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: The solution is not a government bureaucracy. We should allow airlines to protect the customers.
I'm a student for liberty. A free academy, a free society.(VIDEO ENDS).
LAMB: What was the impact of that?
FIELDS: I think that people after that event, knew about the TSA policies. I don't think they knew about it before. And for those people who happen to walk by and maybe just didn't pay too much attention but saw people getting pat down but didn't get pat down, they watched the video.
I mean it went all around campus. So people knew about it. And so I feel like I informed them.
LAMB: How much of what you did at Pepperdine would the college students see and how much feedback did you - have you -are you use to getting feedback from what you do?
FIELDS: Yes. Yes. A lot of people on campus would e-mail me or send me Facebook messages telling me how much they appreciate what I'm doing on campus that I am really - that I was really changing it.
When I first came to Pepperdine the college libertarians, the meeting had like three or four people. And when I graduated we had about 300 people in our network and about 35 people per meeting. And they weren't just libertarians. A lot of them were Liberals but said that they loved what we do and wanted to be a part of it or Republicans and Conservatives who come because they just liked what we did, maybe didn't believe in what we believed in but enjoyed what we were doing.
LAMB: So what's your Twitter address?
FIELDS: Michelle Fields. So its Twitter.com/michellefields.
LAMB: And how many followers do you have?
FIELDS: A few thousand.
LAMB: Has your profile as you've become - as more and more of your videos become viral, have you found your profile increasing and people see you coming and they say uh-oh, here comes Michelle Fields?
FIELDS: No, not yet. Not yet, but I'm sure there are some people who recognize me but there is no one that says oh, Michelle Fields, stay away from her.
LAMB: What would you like to - where do you think this is all going to go for you?
FIELDS: I'd like to one day have a louder voice and represent a good portion of America who feels this isn't within the media. I'd like to be sort of a voice for them.
LAMB: Where?
FIELDS: In the media as a journalist, maybe an anchor.
LAMB: And an anchor will allow you to give your views in the world that we live in today you think. Would be an anchor where though? On a …
FIELDS: On a network. I mean you look at MSNBC, you look at Fox News. There are lots of people who give their opinions.
LAMB: Are we better off with opinionated journalism or the other?
FIELDS: I think people want to see - they want opinions. Well, look at the Occupy Wall Street video that I did. I felt that I wasn't being biased whatsoever. I showed - didn't agree with my opinions but I showed it and I got some much negative attention from it. People were upset that I had done that.
So I think people want bias journalism. They want something. They want someone to tell them what they think.
LAMB: By the way, what's your mom doing now?
FIELDS: My mom works at a non profit where she helps Honduras immigrants and the people in Honduras
LAMB: And you've been able to change her views at all? In becoming less liberal and more libertarian?
FIELDS: No, no. She is set in her ways. She is set in her ways but she is I think more informed because I'm constantly telling her what's going on here.
LAMB: Does she check up on you on Daily Caller?
FIELDS: Yes. All the time. She has Facebook. She is always following everything I'm doing on Facebook and Twitter.
LAMB: Michelle Fields, thank you for spending an hour with us.
FIELDS: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.END