Networks like CNN are airing wall-to-wall coverage of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet to score ratings while avoiding Benghazi and the IRS scandal, according to Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
O’Reilly noted Thursday that objects spotted off the coast of Australia could be a possible breakthrough in the search for the vanished jet (they ultimately were not), but accused the media of “running wild” with the whole story for just one reason: money.
“The network news doesn’t want to cover important stories like the IRS and Benghazi, but they can cover the airliner without any political consequences,” he said.
Touting his own network’s lead in primetime ratings, O’Reilly said CNN was trying to catch up by tapping into viewers’ appetite for the missing plane story. Then he quipped that MSNBC hasn’t hyped the story as much as its competitors, but that could change “if they can find a way to blame Chris Christie.”
It’s the second time O’Reilly has railed against coverage of the missing plane this week. He and Charles Krauthammer lamented Tuesday how Flight MH370’s “painful” media coverage was “corrupting” the news business.
Mediaite also noted that “The Five” co-host Andrea Tantaros was the first on Fox News to invoke the Benghazi attacks on Thursday. Tantaros warned Demoractic co-host Bob Beckel to plug his ears before saying that the Malaysian government’s treatment of the grief-stricken family members of the missing plane’s passengers “feels like the families of Benghazi.”
Watch below, courtesy of Fox News:
h/t Media Matters
This post has been updated.
