Does Bill O'Reilly really have a 'Brian Williams problem'?
Does Bill O鈥橰eilly have a Brian Williams problem? That鈥檚 what the left-leaning publication . In a piece posted on Thursday, D.C. bureau chief David Corn claims that the Fox News host has long exaggerated the extent and dangers of his past combat reporting.
Mr. O鈥橰eilly has said he worked in 鈥渁ctive war zones鈥� in the Falkland Islands and El Salvador during his stint at CBS News in the early 1980s, according to citations in Mr. Corn鈥檚 piece.
Yet during the Argentine-United Kingdom Falklands War, O鈥橰eilly never made it to the combat zone itself. No American reporters did, at least until after the fighting was over.
O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 experience with violence in the Falklands was limited to coverage of an anti-regime riot in Buenos Aires, after the war was over, points out Mother Jones. In El Salvador, he reported briefly from a village where several buildings had been burned by guerrilla fighters, who had fled.
That鈥檚 the extent of O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 war zone experience, according to the Corn piece.
鈥淵et for years, O鈥橰eilly has recounted dramatic stories about his own war reporting that don鈥檛 withstand scrutiny 鈥� even claiming he acted heroically in a war zone that he apparently never set foot in,鈥� writes Corn.
O鈥橰eilly remains unabashed. He鈥檚 reacted to these charges with fury, calling them 鈥済arbage鈥� and Corn a 鈥渓iar鈥� and a 鈥済uttersnipe.鈥�
As to substance, O鈥橰eilly says he鈥檚 never claimed he made it to the Falkland Islands themselves, and that the Buenos Aires riot rated as a 鈥渨ar zone鈥� because junta soldiers shot into the crowd, killing civilians. He remains adamant that at one point a soldier pointed a rifle at him from a few feet away.
鈥淓verything I said about what I reported in South and Central America is true,鈥� said O鈥橰eilly in an interview with Politico. 鈥淓verything.鈥�
Responding to this denial, David Corn says that contemporary news accounts of the Argentine riot paint a very different picture. CBS News鈥� own story that night said nothing about people being killed, and mentioned only that some North American news crews were 鈥渏ostled.鈥�
What鈥檚 the truth here? We await further details. Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple has of the state of play here, including his own interview with O鈥橰eilly. It includes the detail that the Fox host repeatedly cited a book of his titled 鈥淭hose Who Trespass鈥� as rebutting the Mother Jones allegations.
鈥溾�� is a novel which O鈥橰eilly published in 1998. One of its characters is a United States reporter who goes through a horrific riot in Argentina. He later murders the network news figures he blames for sabotaging his career.
That said, there are a number of differences between the cases of Brian Williams of NBC News, who is on a six-month leave pending investigation of his combat exaggerations, and O鈥橰eilly.
First, there aren鈥檛 any aggrieved US soldiers. Much of the negative emotion from the Williams case was driven by angry American troops who took to social media to rebut the NBC anchor鈥檚 tales of derring-do. O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 opposition is a left-leaning magazine, not Army pilots.
Second, he鈥檚 a political commentator, not a news anchor. He鈥檚 not supposed to be measured. Bloviation might be judged to be part of his job. He yells and declaims on every episode of the 鈥淥鈥橰eilly Factor.鈥� That鈥檚 part of its appeal.
Finally, Fox News is not NBC News. Perhaps they will milk this for ratings.
Fox produces some fine journalism. But its business model is built around the creation of narratives and the evoking of emotions. This story offers all that. Fox executives appear to be standing behind O鈥橰eilly, for now. NBC executives never offered Williams that much support.
