To: Fox News
Fox News: Hold Bill O'Reilly Accountable
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Fox News: Hold Bill O'Reilly Accountable For Deceiving Viewers About His "Combat Zone" Experience
Why is this important?
For years, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has touted his experience as a correspondent in active war zones. But this week, a new report from Mother Jones found evidence that O'Reilly hasn't been telling the truth about these "combat zone" experiences -- including his supposed reporting from the Falkland Islands, which no American correspondent was able to reach during the war. [1]
O'Reilly's exaggerations matter. Bill O'Reilly has held himself up as a paragon of virtue and truth while attacking anyone who dares to challenge his credibility. But his deceptions about reporting from war zones undermine and insult actual war reporters who risk their lives to report from actual combat zones. [2] And for too long, O'Reilly has relied on these deceptions about his experience to bolster his opinions about and advocacy for U.S. engagement in military conflicts.
Bill O'Reilly shouldn't get away with years of misleading viewers just because he's an icon at Fox News. [3] If Fox wants to move past this scandal, it needs to follow NBC's example with Brian Williams and take action to hold O'Reilly accountable for this deception.
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[1] Corn, David, and Daniel Schulman. "Bill O'Reilly Has His Own Brian Williams Problem." 2/19/2015. Mother Jones. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/bill-oreilly-brian-williams-falklands-war
[2] Strupp, Joe. "Veteran War Reporters: O'Reilly's Falklands Fibs Violate "Journalism 101." 2/20/2015. Media Matters for America. http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/20/veteran-war-reporters-oreillys-falklands-fibs-v/202590
[3] Gertz, Matt. "How Fox News Responded To Bill O'Reilly's Falklands Fibs." 2/20/2015. Media Matters for America. http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/20/how-fox-news-responded-to-bill-oreillys-falklan/202591
O'Reilly's exaggerations matter. Bill O'Reilly has held himself up as a paragon of virtue and truth while attacking anyone who dares to challenge his credibility. But his deceptions about reporting from war zones undermine and insult actual war reporters who risk their lives to report from actual combat zones. [2] And for too long, O'Reilly has relied on these deceptions about his experience to bolster his opinions about and advocacy for U.S. engagement in military conflicts.
Bill O'Reilly shouldn't get away with years of misleading viewers just because he's an icon at Fox News. [3] If Fox wants to move past this scandal, it needs to follow NBC's example with Brian Williams and take action to hold O'Reilly accountable for this deception.
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[1] Corn, David, and Daniel Schulman. "Bill O'Reilly Has His Own Brian Williams Problem." 2/19/2015. Mother Jones. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/bill-oreilly-brian-williams-falklands-war
[2] Strupp, Joe. "Veteran War Reporters: O'Reilly's Falklands Fibs Violate "Journalism 101." 2/20/2015. Media Matters for America. http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/20/veteran-war-reporters-oreillys-falklands-fibs-v/202590
[3] Gertz, Matt. "How Fox News Responded To Bill O'Reilly's Falklands Fibs." 2/20/2015. Media Matters for America. http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/20/how-fox-news-responded-to-bill-oreillys-falklan/202591