David Corn has burrowed under Bill O’Reilly’s skin like a chigger. At this point, O’Reilly is desperate to make the news coverage of his fake war zone exploits in the Falkland Islands go away. At the end of his show last night, he was basically pleading, “I want to stop this now,” he said. “I hope we can stop it. I really do.” But he has a very curious way of starving a story of oxygen.
Mr. O’Reilly’s efforts to refute the claims by Mother Jones and some former CBS News colleagues occurred both on the air and off on Monday. During a phone conversation, he told a reporter [Emily Steel] for The New York Times that there would be repercussions if he felt any of the reporter’s coverage was inappropriate. “I am coming after you with everything I have,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “You can take it as a threat.”
So, now, in addition to getting all this attention for being a self-aggrandizing liar in the Brian Williams mold, he’s getting attention for threatening a female reporter over the telephone. And, of course, the very fact that he was on the phone with New York Times reporters was evidence that the story was about to get bigger even without him making insensible threats.
To a degree, getting called out for inaccuracy by the “lamestream media” doesn’t hurt Fox News or their talent. It actually fits right into their brand. They get to play the victim, call their critics “pinheads” and “guttersnipes,” and the audience gets the exact kind of stimulation that they’re looking for.
But if all Fox News accomplishes is preaching to the choir, they’re really not very dangerous. The insidious thing about Fox News is the way that they sway media coverage from other outlets that have more credibility with swing voters, or that have some actual responsibility for educating the public. As long as what they’re doing stays in their little padded cocoon, no one gets hurt.
Where this scandal is hurting Fox News is with their credibility with other newsmen and women. I know that in a sane world, Fox News wouldn’t have any credibility to lose with these folks, but we don’t live in a sane world. While it should be obvious that Bill O’Reilly is a paid liar and the furthest thing from a genuine news anchor, he has too often been treated as a real journalist, and his network as a real news provider.
But if Bill O’Reilly were a real news anchor and Fox News were a real news provider, O’Reilly would get the same kind of suspension that NBC News gave to Brian Williams. He’d be suspended to preserve the reputation of the news organization.
But Fox News doesn’t hold O’Reilly to the standards of a news anchor, and they don’t hold themselves to the standards of a news organization.
The controversy comes less than two weeks after NBC News suspended its anchor, Brian Williams, for six months without pay after he was found to have falsified a story about being on a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq in 2003.
The two news networks have taken different approaches in responding to the similar controversies engulfing their biggest stars. After military veterans complained about Mr. Williams’s story about the episode in Iraq, NBC News started an internal investigation into Mr. Williams before removing him from broadcasts. Fox News executives, in contrast, have defended Mr. O’Reilly, combating the Mother Jones report and other critics. “Fox News Chairman and C.E.O. Roger Ailes and all senior management are in full support of Bill O’Reilly,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
That aggressive defense fits a broader strategy at Fox News, which consistently swings back against rival media outlets, journalism observers said.
“Fox News channel is news for people who don’t trust the rest of the news media,” said Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University. “They actually want the controversy because it fits this strategy.”
Jay Rosen is making my point about Fox News enjoying the controversy rather than worrying about their credibility. But they do need to worry at least a little bit about how they are perceived by the people living outside of their armored bubble. Flouting journalistic standards and countenancing threats aimed at print journalists are behaviors that will get them taken less seriously by other news outfits, and that will reduce their ability to drive narratives.
Plus, if this story goes on much longer, Fox‘s biggest star is likely to have an aneurysm and die.
And who would replace O’Reilly in the 9pm time slot? Geraldo?
