Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has recently been criticized for previous reporting he did during his time at CBS on the Falklands War. The Mother Jones article accused O’Reilly of telling tales about what the environment was like when reporting. Missouri School of Journalism professors Earnest Perry, Judd Slivka and Amy Simons discuss the issue on KBIA-FM's media criticism program, "Views of the News."
O’Reilly denies the allegations, firing back at his accusers calling them a coward and a guttersnipe.
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"O'Reilly has taken it to the airwaves to basically defend himself and say, I am going to hold to my story and you guys can say whatever you want to say."
O’Reilly has taken the position to protect his “mantel,” as Perry said. Though some are watching this play out say he is trying to protect the right-leaning base. Perry thinks he is trying to protect his brand. However, Slivka is not surprised on what is happening. “I don’t think that this is new…” Slivka stated.
"We're in this cycle of 'gotcha!'"
Simons stated that O’Reilly’s fighting back style is, “If I scream louder, that’s going to make me more right.” Slivka points out that this method has paid off. Fox News has had higher ratings than they have had in a long time.
How different is the situation NBC is dealing with compared to Fox News? Though some want O’Reilly to be treated the same as Brian Williams, Perry mentions that Fox does not play be the same rules.
"Fox News is a separate entity and it doesn't play by those same rules."
