Bill O’Reilly About To Be Unplugged–FOX NEWS To Make Sex Predator Jobless

 

UPDATE–IT IS OFFICIAL–Bill O’Reilly has lost his job at Fox News Channel! Thanks to The New York Times for their reporting several weeks ago on the top half of the front page the millions paid due to the sexual predatory ways of O’Reilly.  That reporting then led advertisers to flee the show.  After that the writing was on the wall about the ending.

Before we get too carried away with joy it needs to be stated this action should have taken place years ago.

Fox News is preparing to cut ties with its biggest star, Bill O’Reilly, according to people close to the situation. A final decision on O’Reilly’s fate could come as early as the next several days.  As we all know sexual predator O’Reilly, host of The O’Reilly Factor, has been ensnared in sexual-harassment scandals.  Fox News has paid millions to women who worked on or appeared on his program.

Fox News has stopped even responding to questions about whether O’Reilly will return to his show. A well-placed source said Tuesday afternoon that representatives for Fox and O’Reilly have begun talking about an exit.   In fact, Fox News Channel has stopped assuring that O’Reilly will be returning to its air.

All this gains steam as O’Reilly continues a vacation away from the network, lawyers hired by 21st Century Fox are looking into an accusation of sexual harassment made against O’Reilly by former O’Reilly Factor contributor Wendy Walsh.

Yesterday another woman told Fox News her story of harassment at the hands of O’Reilly, according to attorney Lisa Bloom. O’Reilly used to leer at an African-American Fox News clerical worker and called her “hot chocolate”.

O’Reilly needs to be jettisoned like blue ice from a plane.

Bill O’Reilly May Need To Find Women Other Than At FAUX News

Bye-Bye.  Gabriel Sherman reports.

Embattled Fox News host Bill O’Reilly announced tonight that he is taking a vacation. O’Reilly’s decision to go off the air in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal and advertiser boycott arguably has the appearance of a suspension, but O’Reilly worked to dispel that notion. He announced that he’d scheduled his trip ‘last fall’ — well before the New York Times reported he paid $13 million to settle harassment claims. A Fox News source told me O’Reilly plans to return to his show on April 24.

But according to four network sources, there’s talk inside Fox News that tonight’s show could be his last.

Also interesting: “Two highly-placed Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch would like O’Reilly to be permanently taken off the air, while his father Rupert and older brother Lachlan are more inclined to keep him.”

Bill O’Reilly Proves Being Sexual Predator Is Costly, FOX News Already Paid Out $13 Million For Lewd Behavior

Above the fold in the Sunday edition of The New York Times.  POW!  Solid reporting.  By the sourcing it is easy to tell this story has been worked on for some time.

Behind the scenes Fox News has repeatedly stood by Mr. O’Reilly as he faced a series of allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior.

An investigation by The New York Times has found a total of five women who have received payouts from either Mr. O’Reilly or the company in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations against him. The agreements totaled about $13 million.

The women who made allegations against Mr. O’Reilly either worked for him or appeared on his show. They have complained about a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating, according to documents and interviews.

The reporting suggests a pattern: As an influential figure in the newsroom, Mr. O’Reilly would create a bond with some women by offering advice and promising to help them professionally. He then would pursue sexual relationships with them, causing some to fear that if they rebuffed him, their careers would stall.

Besides the women who reached settlements, two other women have spoken of inappropriate behavior by the host. A former regular guest on his show, Wendy Walsh, told The Times that after she rebuffed an advance from him he didn’t follow through on a verbal offer to secure her a lucrative position at the network. And a former Fox News host named Andrea Tantaros said Mr. O’Reilly sexually harassed her in a lawsuit she filed last summer against the network and Mr. Ailes. 

Details on the allegations against Mr. O’Reilly and the company’s handling of them are based on more than five dozen interviews with current and former employees of Fox News and its former and current parent companies, News Corporation and 21st Century Fox; representatives for the network; and people close to Mr. O’Reilly and the women. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing confidentiality agreements and fear of retaliation. The Times also examined more than 100 pages of documents and court filings related to the complaints. 

Ms. Walsh, the former guest on Mr. O’Reilly’s show, said his offer to make her a contributor never materialized after she declined an invitation to go to his hotel suite after a dinner in 2013. “I feel bad that some of these old guys are using mating strategies that were acceptable in the 1950s and are not acceptable now,” she said. “I hope young men can learn from this.”

She said romantic relationships at the workplace “should never happen when there is an imbalance of power and colleagues shouldn’t unwittingly be manipulated into obtaining sex for somebody.” 

Just over a week ago, Mr. O’Reilly hired the crisis communications expert Mark Fabiani — who worked in the Clinton White House — to respond to The Times. 

Bill O’Reilly Caught In Another Lie

How does Bill O’Reilly keep all these tall tales straight?  Here are the details.

Chalk up another Bill O’Reilly exaggeration. In 1977, O’Reilly was a 28-year-old TV reporter in Texas investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy. O’Reilly wrote in his 2012 book Killing Kennedy that he was knocking on the door of a CIA asset with ties to the Kennedys and the Oswalds when he heard the asset shoot himself to death. Pretty dramatic, but it’s entirely false, says Jefferson Morley, a former Washington Post editor and author of JFK assassination book Our Man in Mexico. O’Reilly is heard on phone calls obtained by Morley telling an investigator that he would fly to Florida from Texas the next day to cover the suicide.

Bill O’Reilly And Faux News Making Headlines

CNN’s Reliable Sources this morning was most revealing as it continued the discussion that has been underway for the past several days concerning statements made by Bill O’Reilly  and his time in Argentina during the Falklands War.  No one has ever accused the FAUX News bloviater to be a real journalist or reporter over the past 20 years.  But there should be a level of credibility associated with his work that bears out over from when he worked with CBS.  But that does not seem to be the case based on O’Reilly’s wild accusations made about how military forces in Argentina acted, or how other reporters did their job.

A former CBS reporter has launched a damning attack on claims Bill O’Reilly made about his on-the-ground reporting during the Falklands War just hours after the Fox News host vehemently defended the allegations. 

Eric Engberg, who covered the conflict from Buenos Aires for CBS alongside the veteran broadcaster in 1982, posted a lengthy message on Facebook questioning several of the statements made on the O’Reilly Factor on Friday night.

O’Reilly, 65, blasted the left-leaning publication Mother Jones and called journalist David Corn ‘an irresponsible guttersnipe’ and a ‘liar’ operating on ‘the bottom rung of journalism in America’.

Engberg however insists O’Reilly behaved unprofessionally and has accused him of lying about being the only reporter on the streets during a riot.

He also claims O’Reilly was ordered out of Argentina by CBS bosses for being a ‘disruptive force’. 

The 27-year CBS employee said the area was more an ‘expense account zone’ than ‘war zone’, as the actual conflict was occurring thousands of miles away.

During a 2009 interview, O’Reilly told a Hamptons TV station he was the only CBS journalist brave enough to cover a protest in Buenos Aires. He said: ‘I was out there pretty much by myself because the other CBS news correspondents were hiding in the hotel.’

Engberg slates this as an ‘absolute lie’, saying the entire crew was out that evening ‘exhibiting their usual courage.  

In a 2004 column, O’Reilly said: ‘Having survived a combat situation in Argentina during the Falklands war, I know that life-and-death decisions are made in a flash.’ 

Engberg also claims that during a late-night recap of the Argentina story, CBS bureau Larry Doyle chief told O’Reilly his senior colleague Bob Schieffer would be doing the segment instead.

Allegedly, he exploded, saying: ‘I didn’t come down here to have my footage used by that old man.’

The next day, he says O’Reilly was sent home.

Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Points Makes Sense Regarding Donald Sterling

I have been reading and listening to as many points of view as possible in the past 24 hours regarding the racist comments from Donald Sterling.  Not being overly aware of how the NBA manages itself, or how the league it set up to insist on common sense not getting lost to the type of vile that came forth from Sterling’s mouth meant that I have consumed as much press reports as possible in trying to learn more.

But I have to say the Talking Points memo from Bill O-Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor summed up perhaps better than any other the whole matter.

I turned to O’Reilly on purpose tonight for the simple reason of wondering how he would present this latest example of disgusting racism.  And I must say I was really in alignment with most of his views—99% worth.    The only time I took expectation to his comments happened when he stated–and emphasized– “opportunity” when it came to African-Americans.  My concern is that often it is not up to those who are marginalized to force their own chances at opportunity.  But perhaps I am reading too much into his use of the word.

But I was in total agreement with O’Reilly putting the racist comments squarely on the back of the person who made them, and also voicing the outrage most Americans have with racism through the use of a video clip from Burning Mississippi.

There is also no place for the Snoop Dog lingo (or should I say verbal garbage) that is clearly aimed for the lowest-common denominators in the land.  Folks from all sides can at least agree on that point.

I must say, in closing, I can not think of another time when I have agreed almost in total with a Talking Points segment.  (Maybe I am now having a stroke on the installment plan?)

I would like to in someway link the comment to this post, but am unable to do so since the show just aired–or is still airing as the case may be.  I hope that some of my readers can catch the repeat broadcast of this show later tonight.  (You will probably never see me promote O’Reilly in this fashion again.)

 

 

Bill O’Reilly Tried To Get His Wife’s Boyfriend Investigated By Cops

Family value Republicans strike again.  ( I would link this story if WordPress allowed me to do so.)  From Gawker.

Last summer, Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly came to believe that his wife was romantically involved with another man. Not just any man, but a police detective in the Long Island community they call home. So O’Reilly did what any concerned husband would do: He pulled strings to get the police department’s internal affairs unit to investigate one of their own for messing with the wrong man’s lady.

We reported in June that Bill O’Reilly and his wife of 15 years Maureen McPhilmy O’Reilly seem to be on the outs. Last summer she purchased a separate home under her own name, and transferred her voter registration to the new address, while O’Reilly kept his registration current at their old address. As per usual, Fox News did not comment on the situation at the time. Since then we’ve learned what happened, and it’s like Bridges of Madison County meets Copland. When confronted with a potentially disloyal spouse, O’Reilly reacted by—not unlike his boss Roger Ailes—treating his local police department like a private security force and trying to damage one cop’s career for the sin of crossing Bill O’Reilly.

http://gawker.com/5834808/how-bill-oreilly-tried-to-get-his-wifes-boyfriend-investigated-by-the-cops

Keith Olbermann Was Wrong About Political Donations

First and foremost I want to state upfront that what Keith Olbermann does on his MSNBC show “Countdown” is no more journalism than what Bill O’Reilly does on FAUX News.  They are both personalities that take a partisan side of an issue and present information and entertainment with it. 

That does not make it a news show. 

Do we learn something along the way? 

Bits and pieces, and since I watch Olberman I can claim some insight from his shows when hearing from reporters who are interviewed.  But this is not a news show aimed for any objectivity.  Nor is the program done by O’Reilly.

We all know that.

So let us not confuse what they do with the work Katie Couric, NPR, or the “Newshour” on PBS achieves.   Real reporters and journalists make up the three just listed.  

There are many steps to the making of a real news show, and no one can seriously claim at either MSNBC or FAUX News they are in that business.  They impart information, but they lack the totality of making what they do top-notched journalism.

Having said that however, comes the rules and regulations that MSNBC had made clear about how far out of the box those on MSNBC could stray with political acts.  All news operations have to have such guidelines.  All the hosts on these networks are big-time enough to understand the need for such rules, and should all be smart enough to follow them.

Everyone knows about the all-out blurring of lines with FAUX News and the Republican Party.  That is what makes the Keith Olbermann story more upsetting.  While FAUX News allows several presidential contenders to be on-air partisan attack dogs on a regular basis, and makes no bones about the money they funnel to the GOP, it is clear why some lines have to be drawn and followed.  When they are not, well……we end up with FAUX News!

When NPR released Juan Williams for his anti-muslim remarks a few weeks ago I was in agreement with the action as the highly regarded news operation needed to insure that the work they do retains both objectivity and credibility.  To the degree that MSNBC needs to rise to the level they aspire to should not be undermined by an anchor, who though topped rated, thought he could do whatever he desired.

No on is surprised that Keith Olbermann is a liberal Democrat. 

I am however surprised how Keith Olbermann thinks he can bend rules that are in place for a reason.