Olbermann Parses O’Reilly Incorrectly?
Johnny Dollar breaks down a Keith Olbermann WPITW segment where he claimed that Bill O’Reilly had to be corrected by John Fund over whether Florida had an income tax. It turns out however that it was O’Reilly who noted that Florida didn’t have an income tax and Fund didn’t correct him (obviously, since it was O’Reilly who noted it). Dollar further fingers News Hounds with starting this incorrect reading of the O’Reilly segment and suggests a person or persons at Countdown read that and ran with it without first fact checking the site. In my opinion Dollar makes a pretty convincing case. Read the whole takedown, with supporting video evidence, here.
July 23, 2008 at 10:28 pm
KO lying about O’Reilly is nothing new..but this was just so sloppy it just proves KO knows he’ll face no backlash with MSNBC who have already stated that standard Journalistic rules don’t apply to KO or Chrissy Mathews.
July 23, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Yeah, that’s pretty pathetic. And tomorrow night Olbermann will accuse O’Reilly of not having his facts straight.
It was sad to watch during primary nights was actual journalists like the late Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw have to field questions from Olbermann.
What’s more, I know that the cable news networks are after ratings, but considering that there is now a synergy of NBC News and MSNBC, the network really should lean on Olbermann to at least get his facts straight because the blending of the two and Olbermann’s antics makes everyone look bad.
July 24, 2008 at 4:50 am
Seriously, is ANYONE surprised? Olbermann is a liar. Another day, another lie. I don’t expect anything less from him or the folks at MSNBC. It’s sad to see what’s happened to that channel.
July 24, 2008 at 7:06 am
A couple of years ago, Olbermann would have been compelled to admit his obvious error on the next night’s program. Now that he no longer has a boss, I think he’s more likely to ignore it.
When it comes to O’Reilly, he simply doesn’t care whether it’s true or not. He doesn’t seem to recognize how this affects his credibility, or lack thereof.
July 24, 2008 at 10:38 am
If he chooses to admit this error… he will frame it in the context of, “Look at how I can admit I’m wrong… unlike O’Reilly who would never admit he’s wrong.” It will be a poor admission, that mostly centers around yet another attack.
Of course, the irony of Olbermann attacking someone for allegedly not admitting their mistakes, while attacking someone instead of admitting HIS mistake, will (I’m sure) go over many viewer’s heads.
July 24, 2008 at 1:23 pm
He should appoligize and do better research.
July 24, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Well, let me defend Olbermann over the “lie” charge.
I doubt that he was saying things about O’Reilly and Fund and the Florida state tax issue that he knew was false. As J$ noted, Olbermann regularly uses – apparently without vetting – material taken from liberal/left websites for items on his show.
Sloppy? Yes. Reckless? Yes. Unprofessional? Yes.
But not malicious.
He saves that for his “Special Commentaries”.
July 24, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Ugh.
Were false. Not was.
July 24, 2008 at 4:31 pm
NOT MALICIOUS???? Are you on crack? He attacks O’Reilly/Bush/FOX/Republicans every single night maliciously.
When he falsely said O’Reilly blamed a child molestation victim for being raped, was that malicious?
When he calls O’Reilly any one of the dozens of childish names he’s used, is that malicious?
Olbermann never lets the facts get in the way of a chance to attack someone who disagrees with him ideologically, whether it’s Tony Snow, John McCain, even Hillary Clinton…and especially Bill O’Reilly.
Olbermann is beneath being a scumbag.
July 24, 2008 at 5:50 pm
NOT MALICIOUS???? Are you on crack? He attacks O’Reilly/Bush/FOX/Republicans every single night maliciously
I’m talking about this instance. I.e., the Florida tax question and O’Reilly’s knowledge of it.
It’s seems clear (I don’t know for sure) that he simply took the story from a liberal blog and read it without checking it.
Olbermann’s problem is that he doesn’t care about checking stories that fit his agenda. “Countdown” is little more than a vehicle that he uses against whatever enemy or adversary he wants to go after or whatever cause of the day he wants to forward.
He’s a joke and the show is a disgrace.
July 24, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Stevemg, I guess in a REALLY convoluted way I can see what you are trying to say.
But…..
Why would KO report this highly important, earth-shaking, world-changing, breaking news story, except to maliciously attack BillO?
Too often KO’s defenders (I have no idea whether or not this applies to you) excuse his falsehoods by explaining them away as poor reporting. To me, this is hardly better, and is more often becoming a trend. Is having an entire staff of producers and fact-checkers (you know, the thing that separates the “real” media from us in the blogosphere) that fail to actually fact-check, really better than just lying? Time was being completly incompetent or derelict in your duties got you fired.
Is a host who, by his own claim, writes more than 90% of his “newscast” and yet can not do the most basic research to verify what he’s written is accurate really better than just making stuff up? Didn’t used to be.
I don’t think its just a coincidence that KO did not quote a transcript, or more importantly show a video to accompany his story.
Another case of “to good to check” by our heroes in the liberal media.
July 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm
JDaves:
“Too often KO’s defenders (I have no idea whether or not this applies to you)..”
Sorry, I can’t believe that after I wrote the above:
“He’s a joke and the show is a disgrace.”
that you think I’m (possibly) an apologist for him.
My only point is that the “lie” charge isn’t necessarily true. Or even likely.
Your final sentence is what I’m saying:
“Another case of “to good to check” by our heroes in the liberal media.”
Yep, that’s what Olbermann did on this story. It was a critical story on O’Reilly and so he ran with it without any concern about it being accurate or fair.
That’s his MO for the entire show. He’s got an agenda and he simply surfs the internet and, in particular, liberal/left blogs for material that supports that agenda.
Whether it’s accurate or not is secondary to his interests.
July 24, 2008 at 6:54 pm
jdaves1780:
By malicious, I meant the inaccuracy in the story. That is, he purposefully or maliciously told a falsehood about O’Reilly in this instance.
Malicious, adjective:
vicious, wanton, or mischievous in motivation or purpose.
July 24, 2008 at 8:02 pm
steve. the problem is Olbermann simply doesn’t care if what he says about O’Reilly is malicious or not. He will say and do anything to belittle BO.
That is what makes it malicious.
July 24, 2008 at 8:03 pm
That should say “true or not” instead of the first malicious.