Bwaaaaaaaaaaaah Fox News forced to backtrack again over Bill O'Reilly's reporting claims

[malaise]

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/02/fox-news-bill-o-reilly-reports
<snip>
Fox News has admitted, in answer to questions from the Washington Post, that host Bill O’Reilly did not witness any bombings in Northern Ireland or murders in El Salvador. The network said he saw only photographs of such atrocities.
Bill O'Reilly calls accusations of exaggerated war reporting 'total bullshit'
Read more

For more than a week, Fox defended O’Reilly from increasing accusations that he has for years exaggerated elements of his reporting. O’Reilly called such accusations “bullshit” and made vague threats against reporters who do not satisfy his demands about their own reporting.

The new Fox statement is the second time either Fox or O’Reilly has backtracked on such issues.

O’Reilly claimed in a broadcast to have taken part in “a raid” in Ireland, and in a 2013 book, Keep It Pithy, wrote that he had seen “Irish terrorists kill and maim their fellow citizens in Belfast with bombs”.

O’Reilly did not see any bombings or injuries but only saw photographs provided to reporters by police, a Fox spokesperson told the Post.
-----------------------

[madashelltoo]

1. O'Reilly sure does "SEE" a lot of pictures!

[bahrbearian]

2. No more pictures than any one else, he just doesn't connect to reality.

Kinda like Raygun

[central scrutinizer]

3. Raygun had the excuse of dementia

O'Lielly is just a braggart and a blowhard with no physiological excuse

[malaise]

5. Many in his head

He's a duplicitous LIAR.

[greytdemocrat]

7. HA!!

The world is full of em.

[Takket]

4. i've seen photos of some pretty terrible things...

does that mean qualify to be paid millions to host a TV show? where do I sign up?

[malaise]

8. None of us pretends that we were there when all we've seen

are pictures. O'Lielly will 'lie still' even in death

[Takket]

10. fox news better be careful or...

they might... *GASP* lose credibility! lol

[malaise]

11. Fox and credibility should nto be mentioned in the same sentence

They've been making shite up from day one.

[rocktivity]

14. Never mind the same sentence

The words "Fox News" and "credibility" don't belong in the same solar system.


rocktivity

[malaise]

17. +1,000

[Segami]

15. LOLOL!

[hopemountain]

25. takket

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

13. No! Me! Me!

[spanone]

6. i imagine he'll get a raise from murdoch....the truth is not rewarded at faux.

[malaise]

9. They'll probably arrange a date for O'Lielly with the red haired

LIAR from London who's crossing the pond to spread some more Murdoch poison.

[dsharp88]

16. Sadly, Fox viewers still won't care.

People who watch Fox not only falsely believe it's an actual news network, but also don't really care if their commentators are truthful. They simply seek justification for their hate.

[MADem]

18. They won't be reading these statements to their faithful viewers, I'll wager.

If they do, it will be read by a very attractive female "news reader" in a low cut blouse, and the camera operator will be directed to have trouble with the focus and zoom right when the key points are articulated.

[tclambert]

19. But he was present at the War on Christmas.

Oh, no, wait! That was imaginary. So once again, he wasn't really there.

[douggg]

20. I was with Billo at the crucifixion of Christ.

I was with Billo at the crucifixion of Christ.

I saw a picture of it in a Bible.

I distinctly remember the sound of the nails being hammered.

[LibertyLover]

21. Billo had better declare

that he is clairvoyant if he says he's "seen" one more major news event.

[tiptonic]

22. Bully

He's just a little 'man', trapped in a big bullies body.

[winstars]

23. Zelig nt

[progressoid]

28. I haven't seen that in a looong time.

Might have to see if the library has it.

[Akbar]

24. Me and Bill Were there Side-By-Side Covering the Crimean War

Oh, wait. "The Charge of the Light Brigade" had no photographs, so I guess it was just me.

[Octafish]

26. Worst are O'Reilly's lies about JFK assassination.

O'Reilly claimed to have been the guy who knocked on George De Mohrenschildt's door, the day of his suicide. De Mohrenschildt was Oswald's CIA handler and also a friend of George Herbert Walker Bush.

What's really bad is this: Before he went to work for Rupert Murdoch's BFEE made man Roger Ailes, O'Reilly made clear the evidence he had examined in regards to Dallas made clear the case for conspiracy. After he went to work for FOX, O'Reilly STFU and went along.

Thus, Killing Kennedy is just the latest example of O’Reilly’s lucrative decision to sell out, even on a topic that once appeared to draw his honest interest. Many years ago O’Reilly was the host of a syndicated program called Inside Edition that drew on his past acquaintance with Gaeton Fonzi, the late, great field investigator for both the Church Committee and the HSCA. Fonzi supplied O’Reilly with many interesting stories about the Kennedy case in the early 1990s when Oliver Stone’s film was creating a new furor about the case. The stories all pointed toward a conspiracy, and some still exist on YouTube today.

But then, O’Reilly was hired by longtime Republican operative Roger Ailes to work for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox network. According to author Russ Baker, O’Reilly wanted to continue his investigative pieces on the JFK case at Fox, but these ambitions were quashed by Ailes, who had cut his teeth in politics as a media consultant for Kennedy’s archrival, Richard Nixon.

So today, O’Reilly’s work on the Kennedy case is contrary to what he did before. He even suggests the chief motive for his sell-out on page 313. He dedicates the book to his boss, Roger Ailes, whom he obsequiously calls “a brilliant, fearless warrior.”

-- James DiEugenio, a great DUer

[ryan_cats]

27. I've been to a death camp

I've been to a death camp. Use BOR logic, I was a victim of the Holocaust.

[truebluegreen]

29. I think we need to start adding "sequel" numbers (II,III,IV etc.)

to "Fox News forced to backtrack again...." Just so I don't miss any.


ETA: I don't do the Twitter, but somebody should start a meme #BillO#eyewitness or something like that....