Bill O’Reilly bemoaned the state of journalism on his show Tuesday night, telling his guest that when inaccurate reporting is left unchallenged, it “hurts the country.”
“If I made a mistake reporting at WCBS,” the Fox host said, “these guys were on me! You had to do it right!”
O’Reilly said that nowadays, journalists can throw any story out there and subsequently claim “well I didn’t report it, [someone else] did!”
The Fox host did not mention his own recent clarifications, saying that when he once claimed to have “seen” nuns shot dead in El Salvador and witnessed bombings in Northern Ireland, he simply meant that he had seen photos of them.
Guest John Stossel pushed back against O’Reilly’s argument that that liberal media gets a free pass, but affirmed his contempt for the New York Times. He then growled and grabbed a nearby copy, crumpling it up on-air.
“At least now the bloggers correct them,” Stossel added.
“Some of them do,” O’Reilly answered.
Watch the clip:
This post has been updated.
I wish I could attribute it to mere projection or lack of self-awareness, but everything I know about him compels the conclusion that it’s a deliberate application of sociopathic Rovian backspin.
Is this a joke?
Adolf Hitler complains not enough Jews in Germany!
FILM AT ELEVEN.
Pot, meet kettle.
Holy crap, this man is practically the driving force behind journalistic decline.
Did Billo say “young whippersnappers.” or “Get off my lawn!”?