"Bill O'Reilly Lashes Out at Haters of Fox News Channel"
Posted by Marv Essary
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Al Franken has tried to sell his books by making references to conservatives (Rush Limbaugh) or copyrighted conservative slogans (Fox News' ''fair and balanced'') in his titles. And Al Franken may have other motives for his tacky titles. Bill O'Reilly has his say about Franken's tasteless technique in this report by Carl Limbacher and staff of NewsMax, which is reprinted by permission.
NEWSMAX.COM - Calling a political activist such as Al Franken a satirist, as did the New York Times, is a ''sick joke,'' says Fox News' top-rated news analyst Bill O'Reilly.
Writing in an op-ed piece in the New York Daily News, O'Reilly charges: ''Attempting to smear and destroy the reputations of those with whom you politically disagree is not satire. If that were the case, Richard Nixon's Watergate plumbers would all be writing for 'Saturday Night Live.' ''
Noting that Fox News Channel would soon celebrate its seventh birthday ''awash in publicity and success,'' O'Reilly observes: ''From virtually nothing, the organization that employs me has risen up to become one of the most powerful news agencies in the country. This is a stunning achievement, but it's also one that has engendered bitterness and controversy.''
The claim that FNC is conservative is ''propaganda,'' he says, a fact proven by many polls that show that the network's audience is ''across the board, ideologically and demographically. The latest survey taken by Mediamark Research finds that more ultraconservative viewers watch CNN than Fox.''
Such facts, however, do not matter to ''Fox haters,'' who are themselves ''primarily ultraliberal,'' he writes. FNC's ''dominance in the cable news world has shattered the stranglehold the left had on TV news for decades.'' This ''has caused fear and loathing in some political circles.''
''If Fox News crashed and burned tomorrow, these people would toast marshmallows in the flames,'' he charges.
FNC is striking back by putting ''the demonizers on notice that they will be held responsible when they violate trademarks or launch defamatory personal attacks on Fox personnel.''
He notes that the ''poo-bahs at The Times know what a smear campaign is, but apparently, if it's directed at an enterprise the paper disapproves of, it's okay. I wonder how The Times' editorialists would react if their faces graced a book cover accompanied by the word 'liar.' Oh, right, they'd consider it satire.''
http://www.chronwatch.com/editorial/contentDisplay.asp?aid=3930
