Fox Trots I
Brendan Brew
The Reliable Source can be reached at gro...@washpost.com,
or c/o The Washington Post, 1150 15th Street, N.W., Washington,
D.C., 20071.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6352-2001Mar1.html
By Lloyd Grove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 1, 2001; Page C03
The Franken Factor
Investigative humorist Al Franken thought something was amiss
when Fox News star Bill O'Reilly -- whose Feb. 10 speech at
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach was
featured last weekend on C-SPAN's "Book TV" -- claimed
that his previous show, the syndicated tabloid "Inside Edition,"
had won the coveted George Foster Peabody award.
"It seemed strange to me, but he was so adamant," Franken
told us about the self-styled conservative populist, who regularly
trashes liberal elites like Franken on his weeknight show, "The
O'Reilly Factor." "I thought back and figured maybe 'Inside Edition'
won a Peabody for its story 'Swimsuits: How Bare Is Too Bare?'
or maybe for its three-part series on the father of Madonna's first
baby."
Digging deeper, Franken did a Nexis search and discovered
repeated instances where O'Reilly has defended his involvement in
"Inside Edition" with such claims as: "I anchored a program called
'Inside Edition,' which has won a Peabody Award for investigative
reporting" ("The O'Reilly Factor," Aug. 30, 1999); "All I've got to
say is that 'Inside Edition' has won, I -- I believe, two Peabody
Awards, the highest journalism award in the country" ("The
O'Reilly Factor," May 8, 2000); and "A program that wins a
Peabody Award, the highest award in journalism, and you're going
to denigrate it?" ("The O'Reilly Factor," May 19, 2000). Franken
also discovered that O'Reilly's claims are wrong.
"I called Bill and he was nice enough to get back to me," Franken
told us. "Turns out he's been confused: In 1996, 'Inside Edition' won
a Polk, which does start with a 'P.' You know, it's one thing to get your
facts wrong on Fox. That's expected. But lying on C-SPAN? I don't
think you should do that."
(HAHAHAHAHA!--poster's comment)
Yesterday O'Reilly told us: "Al Franken is on a jihad against me. So
I got mixed up between a Peabody Award and a Polk Award, which
is just as prestigious. Is this an illogical mistake? My comment is: We
did good work. There was no intention to mislead. I really don't
understand what Franken's problem is."
Alas, O'Reilly left "Inside Edition" in 1995 -- the year before the
show did its George Polk Award-winning exposé on insurance
-industry exploitation of poor people.
(O'Reilly is such a lying self-serving dickhead LoL).
King Pineapple
Brendan Brew <bbr...@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:yT2p6.216$dV3....@news.uswest.net...
> (O'Reilly is such a lying self-serving dickhead LoL).
So O'Reilly was lying when he trashed Ronnie Reagan in his book? Thought
so...
JWK
all these media spew heads lie when it suits their purpose. But I do find
it humorous that O'Reilly weasels out when Franken catches him in an
outright lie. He should have owned up to it and moved on. Instead he
whines about a Franken jihad. What a loser.
J
"King Pineapple" <saddl...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:vf5p6.175$oz.3...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
King Pineapple
JWK <what...@care.com> wrote in message
news:cc6p6.699$PA5....@news.uswest.net...
> Don't know. I didn't read his tripe
How can you say it's "tripe" if you haven't bothered to read it? What a
hypocrite.
>(or Franken's tripe either).
I've read both O'Reilly's book AND Franken's latest excuse for a book.
Franken's IS tripe. O'Reilly's isn't.
> I think
> all these media spew heads lie when it suits their purpose.
As 92% of all journalists are Democrats, that's understandable.
>But I do find
> it humorous that O'Reilly weasels out when Franken catches him in an
> outright lie. He should have owned up to it and moved on. Instead he
> whines about a Franken jihad. What a loser.
Well, O'Reilly is the one with a high-rated TV show. Ever see "Lateline",
Franken's show? Lasted about 3 weeks before getting canned.