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Bill O'Reilly Has a Posse
One of the weirder features of the O'Reilly Factor is how the host directs his producers to seek out, in person, the people who dare to piss him off. This isn't an unusual trick for local news, the mileau that produced O'Reilly. But local news producers and reporters reserve their ambush time for criminals or creepy people. (Great example here.) O'Reilly goes after judges who've made wrong decisions and members of the media who make fun of him. Michael Roberts in the Denver Westwood tackles that side of the show with a focus on one lonesome newspaper columnist.
On April 7, [Joanne Ostrow] wrote an online piece chiding O'Reilly for spewing "racist bile" in an epic blowup with fellow Fox personality Geraldo Rivera. (O'Reilly and Rivera had harangued each other over a March 30 Virginia Beach crash in which two young women were reportedly killed by Alfredo Ramos, a drunk driver with a previous record and no green card. The former viewed the tragedy as an indictment of U.S. immigration policy; the latter argued against using the deaths to make a "cheap political point.") Two days later, O'Reilly put Ostrow in the "Ridiculous" spotlight, branding her "flat-out dishonest, and a far-left ideologue." In the meantime, O'Reilly producer Porter Berry phoned to ask if Ostrow would debate her statements on the Factor; she declined, saying her prose spoke for itself. Then, on April 10, Berry, a cameraman and a sound technician ambushed Ostrow in the parking lot of a Wild Oats market. (Berry flew in for the task.)
On April 11, O'Reilly aired this forced conversation on his nationally syndicated radio staple and the television Factor. Although KOA's Mike Rosen and KHOW's Peter Boyles scoffed at the notion that Ostrow had been stalked, her experiences imply otherwise. Since she went directly from her home to Wild Oats, Ostrow believes Berry staked out her residence and tailed her to the business.
It doesn't make much sense. O'Reilly frequently gloats about his dominance of the media - when the subject of NBC News or Keith Olbermann comes up, he flaunts his ratings like a chestful of medals earned storming Osama bin Laden's cave. And that just makes his peevishness, aided by all of Fox's resources, truly disturbing.
Cathy Young took whacks at O'Reilly in 2002 and 2007. To her eternal shame, she never got stalked by a TV producer with a boom mike.
Fluffy|4.24.07 @ 8:28AM|#
The obvious answer here would be for some intrepid news organization to stalk O'Reilly and his producers with ambush questions in public places, but to do so CONTINUOUSLY and INDEFINITELY, until they go insane.
I heart Mitt|4.24.07 @ 8:32AM|#
I live in Virginia Beach, and the most disturbing thing to me was when O'Reilly held our mayor personally responsible for that car accident (the car accident he and Geraldo were arguing about), stalked her to her home for an ambush interview in her driveway, then went on to state she "should be baking pies, not running a major city." What a nitwit.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 8:37AM|#
Actually, O'Reilly's point was that if the drunk driver had been
deported after one of his several previous arrests the accident
would not have happened. IIRC, it was the policy of Virginia Beach,
promoted by that mayor, to not report illegals when they are
arrested.
I don't watch that guy much, but I did catch some of this deal.
ed|4.24.07 @ 8:39AM|#
The true nitwits are those Americans who keep him at the top of the ratings. O'Reilly is a repellent bully, but he is nothing without the blind, goose-stepping support of his fan base.
|4.24.07 @ 8:50AM|#
This kind of self-righteous stalking with an agenda while
proclaiming fairness & balance has become a pattern at Fox
News...The good part is, nobody believes them when they claim not
to have an agenda.
JMR
Federal Dog|4.24.07 @ 8:59AM|#
"This kind of self-righteous stalking with an agenda while
proclaiming fairness & balance has become a pattern at Fox
News"
And NBC and CBS and CNN, for a very long time now. So what's new?
Why get a jacked up about O'Reilly, and not the Dateline or Sixty
Minutes people?
|4.24.07 @ 9:00AM|#
Every once in a while O'Reilly will take a position that is actually reasonable (in other words - a position I agree with). When that happens, I start rethinking my logic from the ground up.
|4.24.07 @ 9:04AM|#
Watching O'Reilly is something I take perverse pleasure in. I hate it almost all of the time but I keep watching. And then I call my father and say "See, he really is an idiot, stop watching that channel and buying his books".
|4.24.07 @ 9:11AM|#
What is it with Reason and posses lately? This is the
second mention of a "posse" in the last week.
Does this have something to do with the joke that ends in the
punchline, "I said bring back the posse! The
posse!"
|4.24.07 @ 9:11AM|#
To her eternal shame, she never got stalked by a TV producer
with a boom mike.
That you know about...
Seriously, if O'Reilly is directing his underlings to stalk people
in other states, isn't that grounds for RICO charges against Fox
News?
|4.24.07 @ 9:13AM|#
Federal Dog,
Is 60min still doing ambush interviews? I haven't watched in many
years (Do they still end the show with Andy Rooney's unfunny
musings on paper clips?). Even at their sleaziest I don't think
they ever ambushed a columnist who wrote bad things about them.
That is just so petty. What sort of fragile-ego-maniac would stoop
to that?
|4.24.07 @ 9:13AM|#
i sometimes watch O'Reilly and find some things offensive and
others pretty libertarian.
He at least brings on those with differing ideas, and not always
disrepectfully. Yesterday, he had on Richard Dawkins, discussing
"The God Delusion" and they agreed to disagree but I didn't see
O'Reilly foaming at the mouth or anything. Maybe a few viewers will
now go out and read Dawkin's book because O'Reilly didn't tear him
a new one.
|4.24.07 @ 9:14AM|#
Federal Dog is right. If 60 minutes were stalking Alberto Gonzalez outside of his out about GUITMO, Reason wouldn't give a shit. O'Reilly love him or hate him is any better or worse than any major media outlet. Reason just doesn't agree with him about immigration so they choose to bitch about things that otherwise don't seem to bother him.
|4.24.07 @ 9:18AM|#
Not a whole lot of criticism of the "ambush interview" when the sloppy fat guy does it.
VM|4.24.07 @ 9:20AM|#
ProL:
(as is tradition today - will send a congratulations again!)
with all of this talk about the POSSE, it's time to break out the
lasso, chaps, ooh! spurs, riding crop. (and we can talk with the
invisible swordsman)
... working up to one helluva weekend in Vegas (to paraphrase Major
TJ "King" Kong)
|4.24.07 @ 9:24AM|#
If 60 minutes were stalking Alberto Gonzalez outside of his
out about GUITMO, Reason wouldn't give a shit.
I'm not so sure about that. Though it would be funny if a news
outlet waterboarded the truth out of him about the attorney
firings.
Fluffy|4.24.07 @ 9:25AM|#
The ambush interview is a perfectly legitimate journalistic
tool.
That's why I advocated its continual and unrelenting use against
O'Reilly and his producers.
The reason O'Reilly's use of it has ruffled feathers is because
he's used it against other journalists, thus breaking the unspoken
rule that journalists were off limits for the very tools
journalists use. But that's OK, because it opens the door to use it
on O'Reilly.
SugarFree|4.24.07 @ 9:28AM|#
John,
Really, John? Really? An egomaniac pundit sending a team to harass
a columnist that turned down an appearance on his show is EXACTLY
the same as a news outlet trying to get an interview with the
United States Attorney General about torture? Really?
Wow.
|4.24.07 @ 9:31AM|#
John,
Are you kidding? I can't detect it if you are. Except that I can't
believe you really think ambushing Alberto Gonzalez over GUITMO is
equivalent to ambushing Joanne Ostrow over writing disparaging
things.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 9:34AM|#
The true nitwits are those Americans who keep him at the top
of the ratings. O'Reilly is a repellent bully, but he is nothing
without the blind, goose-stepping support of his fan
base.
So, if their taste differs from yours they are mentally
defective?
Fluffy,
My earlier comment had little to do with the topic at hand, but I
find the ambush interviews to be unprofessional. As unprofessional
as interviewing people who are not doing anything "wrong" under a
false pretext.
The Dateline deal snagging wanna-be pedophiles is perfectly fine by
me. If they were doing it to adults trying to meet adults, without
their knowledge, I would find that wrong.
elTimo|4.24.07 @ 9:42AM|#
cab:Every once in a while O'Reilly will
take a position that is actually reasonable
Hell, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
JohnD|4.24.07 @ 9:56AM|#
I can take him or leave him, but O'Reilly exposes bad judges and
dishonest politicians. He also goes after news outlets that give
these cretins cover.
You got a problem with that? Tough. You just wish that Reason was
half has popular as the O'Rielly show.
|4.24.07 @ 9:59AM|#
Only if he had Hank Aaron on at the same time. With a
bat.
Aaron has said that he is rooting for Bonds to break his record. Of
course, if Hank took the Hammer to Papa Bear, that would be fine
with me.
So, if their taste differs from yours they are mentally
defective?
Speaking for myself, yes, anyone whose taste differs from mine is
mentally defective.
|4.24.07 @ 10:06AM|#
Brian24,
Oh, sure. Aaron's a good guy and would say nothing different.
Still, I'd pay good money to see Hank hit #756.
|4.24.07 @ 10:08AM|#
You got a problem with that? Tough. You just wish that Reason was half has popular as the O'Rielly show.
No, I just wish O'Reilly were half as popular as Reason.
Just another thing that's wrong with the world.
Fluffy|4.24.07 @ 10:12AM|#
The one time I've had extensive knowledge of the facts in a case
where O'Reilly went after a "bad judge", O'Reilly was dead wrong
and foolishly, absurdly so.
It's probably not perfectly correct to extrapolate from that to
conclude that he's ALWAYS that wrong, but I'm going to do so
anyway.
Also, does anyone really take him seriously after his War on
Christmas obsession?
|4.24.07 @ 10:28AM|#
I haven't watched Bill O'Reilly since his days at Inside Edition. What's he been up to?
|4.24.07 @ 10:33AM|#
"Actually, O'Reilly's point was that if the drunk driver had
been deported after one of his several previous arrests the
accident would not have happened."
I've never been to Mexico. Is it devoid of automobiles, alochol, or
both?
Anyway, ambush interviews are fine. Ambusing a newspaper columnist
for saying mean things about your teevee show? Now that's where
journalist excellence meets moral courage, right there.
|4.24.07 @ 10:57AM|#
I've never been to Mexico. Is it devoid of automobiles, alochol, or both?
From my experiences in Mexico, I'd say that you can't drive drunk
there, else you will run into cattle in the middle of the highway.
I was on a bus in Cabo that almost left the road avoiding some
oxen.
|4.24.07 @ 11:17AM|#
You know what would be a neat trick? Get stalked by O'Reilly on the same day that Olbermann names you Worst Person In The World. Anybody want to try that? Nick? Cathy? Jacob? David?
|4.24.07 @ 11:32AM|#
I think you mean milieu, Mr. Weigel.
And 'Westword,' not 'Westwood.'
O'Reilly is a repellent bully, but he is nothing without the
blind, goose-stepping support of his fan base.
Sieg Heil! I've never watched his show, but whatever...
From my experiences in Mexico, I'd say that you can't drive
drunk there, else you will run into cattle in the middle of the
highway.
Drunk driving is SOP in Mexico. My more decandent friend from
Mexico uses his Mexican driver's license here (and his US license
there) and got it taken away after an accident (he was drunk, as
usual*, but they didn't know it - they took the license for 'no
proof of insurance') and he got it back in the mail a week later:
"We can't confiscate a foreign license."
*taxpayers are now covering the treatments for his rotting
liver.
|4.24.07 @ 11:48AM|#
Mr. F. Le Mur:
Let's say we have a society that lives mostly in a suburban
setting, and zoning laws that keep entertainment and and drinking
establishments separated from residential areas. The bars seem to
be doing fine. Are you suggesting that drinking and driving is
not SOP in the US? Somehow I don't think cabs are taking
everybody home.
|4.24.07 @ 11:56AM|#
John D- As a general rule, the people who do ambush interviews
are not journalists. They're purveyors of infotainment.
You know, like Bill himself.
Another general rule: if it's on television, it's probably not
journalism at all.*
*There are exceptions, but damn few of them.
|4.24.07 @ 11:59AM|#
(Great example here.)
That video clip of the guy badgering the "library masturbator" was
fucking hilarious.
It takes real journalistic talent to interview a guy who
masturbates in the library and yet the journalist comes off (no pun
intended, really) looking like the jackass
thoreau|4.24.07 @ 12:01PM|#
Another general rule: if it's on television, it's probably
not journalism at all.*
Are you saying that John Stossel might not be a first rate
journalist?
|4.24.07 @ 12:02PM|#
Lamar,
My wife and I were driving home a few nights ago and saw a woman
driving home with her head leaning against the glass and the car
weaving all over the place. She was scary drunk (or having a
stroke). We were debating the utility of calling the cops on her.
Oh, and this was in Florida, not Mexico :)
Federal Dog|4.24.07 @ 1:03PM|#
"My wife and I were driving home a few nights ago and saw a
woman driving home with her head leaning against the glass and the
car weaving all over the place. She was scary drunk (or having a
stroke). We were debating the utility of calling the cops on
her."
There is a time and place for debate, but this was not it.
|4.24.07 @ 1:06PM|#
Federal Dog,
I agree, in hindsight. We were basically in a neighborhood, though,
and figured that she'd be home before the cops could respond.
Probably we should've done it, anyway.
|4.24.07 @ 1:56PM|#
Another general rule: if it's on television, it's probably
not journalism at all.
Yup. I firmly believe that you lose one IQ point for every hour
that you spend watching any of the news networks. The only thing
Fox has going for it is that they managed to hire a few
better-looking female anchors than CNN or MSNBC. But if that's what
I'm looking for, I'll just go watch telenovelas.
|4.24.07 @ 2:06PM|#
Thoreau-Yup. That's what I'm saying. And it's too bad; if Stossel did some real, Balko type work, he could do some good.
|4.24.07 @ 6:28PM|#
I happen to like O'Reilly, and I agree with him a large percentage of the time, but then again I am much older then most of you on this forum. As you get older you just start seeing things in a more mature way. But given a choice I would rather listen to Micheal Savage. I have my asbestos suit on, so flame on.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 8:20PM|#
Tonight O'Reilly is having a fit over Rosie, for one of the
least stupid things that she has said. It was not even stupid, it
was kinda funny.
At some banquit Rosie said something like she has been dieting for
2 weeks ever since Donald Trump said she was fat and unattractive.
She went on to say that she really wanted to (sorry, paraphrasing
there) give an old bald guy a boner.
OH THE HUMANITY!
|4.24.07 @ 11:50PM|#
The name of the newspaper is "WestwoRd", not "WestwoOd". And "Denver" isn't part of the paper's name either. :-p
uncle sam|4.25.07 @ 12:11AM|#
I happen to like O'Reilly, and I agree with him a large
percentage of the time, but then again I am much older then most of
you on this forum. As you get older you just start seeing things in
a more mature way.
Slightly subtle ad hominem.
Are you of age for AARP?
I've been tossing their letters for some years.
I haven't really watched much O'Reilly, but what I've seen makes me
think things like: reactionary, angry, impolite, controlling,
etc.
|4.25.07 @ 11:23AM|#
I happen to like O'Reilly, and I agree with him a large
percentage of the time, but then again I am much older then most of
you on this forum.
Dementia sets in at different ages for different people I
suppose.
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