O’Reilly sics FOX Security on caller?
I was hoping this wasn’t going to get a lot of play when I got tipped off to it yesterday but the lefty blogs are running with it. The story, as Media Matters chronicles, describes the event is basically that Someone called O’Reilly’s radio program and mentioned Keith Olbermann’s name and was then cut off and O’Reilly then rebukes the cut off caller and says that they’ve got his phone number and will send it to FOX Radio’s security to further action.
I’ve heard the clip and that is what happens. However, there’s something else about that call which isn’t mentioned in a lot of the characterization of this story; that O’Reilly referred to something untoward or obscene the caller did. You have to figure that they had seven second delay on. Most radio call in programs have a delay running to catch obscenities before they get out. It’s standard procedure. So whatever the caller said that triggered his booting most likely occurred after he was cut off because of the delay. I seriously doubt it was the mere mention of Olbermann’s name that got the caller booted, though that certainly sounds like what it was that got him booted. If it was Olbermann’s name the delay would have had time to cut the caller off before Olbermann’s name got out on the air.
UPDATE: Apparently this incident made Countdown tonight according the MSN MSNBC Group…
UPDATE2: Crooks and Liars has the video of Countdown’s O’Reilly segment…
Does Keith Olberman have any idea how silly and immature he looks? Tonight was just pathetic and having that silly attorney, Susan Filan, go through her diatribe was just embarassing. I am no O’Rielly fan but he is just the winner in this one. He is just not that stupid and neither are we to believe he sicked Fox Security on someone for mentioning Keith O’s name. Yeah, right!
Comment by sophia — March 3, 2006 @ 11:26 pm
OMG, BO has really lost it. Or did he ever have it?!?
Comment by Dude — March 4, 2006 @ 1:10 am
…and he did it again…
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x568148
Comment by moi-meme — March 4, 2006 @ 1:47 am
BO needs serious psychological help.
Comment by moi-meme — March 4, 2006 @ 1:48 am
I thought it was pretty damn funny.
After the aforementioned Filan bit, KO said that Bill just can’t help but respond to this kind of stuff.
So he “saved him the trouble” and responded for him (in his best Ted Baxter voice):
“The abuse of the airwaves is a critical problem and the First Amend…
MSNBC’S ratings are a disaster!
Nobody pays attention to them.
I do!
I watch. Addicted. Unable to change the channel.
But they’re a disaster.
So don’t pay attention to MSNBC. Nobody watch MSNBC. Nobody is watching MSNBC!
If you watch, we have your phone number, by the way…
I’ll turn it over to Fox Security.
I told you I’d shoot, but you didn’t believe me. Why didn’t you believe me?!”
A flashing banner that read “Bill O’Reilly Did NOT Say This” added to the effect.
Keith then talked about ratings. A25-54 on Wednesday.
O’Reilly Factor: 309,000
Countdown: 231,000
Nancy Grace Knows What You Did Last Summer: 131,000
Paula Zahan 81,000
At the close he said “Now I’m expecting a call from the Bill O’Relly Police. Armed with LOOFAHS!”
Comment by WestCoastBlogger — March 4, 2006 @ 3:09 am
Bill boots me all the time. Just as I begin to put the hammer down on his inflated womanizing ego he hits the “caller mute” switch and starts blathering as if I can’t get a word in edgewise even tho I’m doing a pretty good job of dressing him down unbeknownst to the public. Bills’ a control freak with an ego bigger than his mouth.
Comment by Roger C. — March 4, 2006 @ 11:55 am
Spud, you are giving Bill waaaay too much of the benefit of the doubt here. You can see what this guy actually said on any number of sites by now, and it was NOT obscene. It doesn’t matter how much people like sophia try to “spin” this one to make Olbermann look bad. It’s simply not possible this time, because Bill O’Reilly has finally well and truly gone off the deep end! His insanity speaks far, far louder than any words of support from anyone trying to help defend him. The man is a nutjob beyond compare, and this is the ultimate proof: He now believes the name “Keith Olbermann” is an obscenity, and he actually thinks he can use LOCAL police forces to go after people who utter it on his show when they call in. And the scariest part is, these people really ARE getting calls from Fox Security! The whole network is nuts!
Comment by tanne — March 4, 2006 @ 1:39 pm
Hey tanne…spud and the other bloggers can’t say anything bad about fnc because they will be threatened by the FNC bullies. How do i know. I run a blog…a blog i thought no one read but low and behold I said something about fnc and they had their pr department all over me. But I didn’t back down to their tactics and nothing happened to me. Really a shame they, TVN, ICN and others give in to them. FNC and their cult members do not believe in free speech. They only believe in spinning crap in their favor. And yes it’s pathetic that people play right into their hands.
Comment by Me — March 4, 2006 @ 1:56 pm
So Me, You say the Fox folks are a bunch of bullies then why dont you explain to us what they did?
Lets see some proof, a letter, email or name of a Fox PR person that tried to shut you up.
Its go time, Put up or shut up………..
Comment by JR — March 4, 2006 @ 3:24 pm
To all the Fox haters that read this board i have a challenge for you…..Instead of spewing garbage about FNC, lets see some FACTUAL information that WE can ALL verify is true…..
If you cant do that then do us all a favor and just SHUT UP !!!!!
Comment by JR — March 4, 2006 @ 3:27 pm
“Hey tanne…spud and the other bloggers can’t say anything bad about fnc because they will be threatened by the FNC bullies.”
Wow, you must really not read the blog much then to think that. I’ve chastized and rebuked FNC numerous times over everything from conflict of interest to car chases to Natalie Holloway. I’m just not buying this particular story is all. It doesn’t add up to me…
Comment by Spud — March 4, 2006 @ 5:47 pm
To me this is a pretty simple issue: some joker who only was calling in to start trouble got cut off, and got a talking to by an obviously frustrated O’Reilly.
Who knows how many people try to get on his show and throw a wrench in the works.
I would get pretty upset too, eventually.
Comment by Skippy — March 4, 2006 @ 5:54 pm
Oh Me, please. I’ve posted things on public message boards about things I don’t like about FNC, complete with contact information, and not a single FNC PR person has ever contacted me. NOBODY from FNC has contacted me. So take a step out of your fantasy world, or provide the proof that JR asked for.
Comment by OverHere — March 4, 2006 @ 9:35 pm
Skippy, being “upset” with a caller is no excuse for siccing Fox Security on them! It’s absurd! It’s like having a kid arrested for calling you up at home and asking if your refrigerator is running! That’s the absurdity of the whole thing. You have to wonder, how long is it going to be before someone calls up Bill and asks if he has Keith Olbermann in a can!
And to those who wonder whether this guy said something really “obscene” in his call and was cut off: don’t you have to ask yourself why, if that were true, Bill doesn’t have the real content of the call in a sound file online for all who are interested to hear, to prove that something truly obscene was said? Why is he trying to cover up what was said? Why is he trying to hide it, rather than use it to expose “the truth”?
Comment by tanne — March 5, 2006 @ 11:52 am
Olbermann sums up so many viewers’ frustration with the falafel man’s network in a mere 3 words: “Fox, not facts”.
Comment by Becky in Ohio — March 5, 2006 @ 4:31 pm
I’m with Spud. Until I hear or read a transcript of the caller’s entire comment, I am not going to judge this either way.
Comment by Goldfish — March 5, 2006 @ 6:22 pm
Spud, do your research. Two different posters at Daily Kos talked about their encounters. Both tried to mention how great they thought Olbermann was and both got phone calls from the same person, who they both named, who yes, is the head of Fox Security. Both bloggers had tapes or transcripts available of both their conversations with BOR and with the Fox Security person. Apparently it was not a one-time, isolated incident. Now I’m not going to say for one single second that these bloggers didn’t try to get this kind of reaction out of Bill O’Reilly by specifically mentioning Olbermann’s name–it’s like a red flag to a bull. But it was O’Reilly who chose to turn their names over to security. Why don’t you contact these two individuals and ask for specifics instead of casting doubt on their accounts? You know-like a real reporter would do?
Comment by BeBop — March 5, 2006 @ 6:35 pm
And one more thing–if O’Reilly was innocent why did they scrub his website of the audio of that call altogether after it began hitting the ‘net that Fox Security had been called on these individuals? Does that sound like the actions of someone who had nothing to hide? That sounds fishy to me.
Comment by BeBop — March 5, 2006 @ 6:39 pm
Why did Olbermann’s comments about Fox disappear from TVNewser a few weeks ago? That sounded fishy to me as well.
Comment by Goldfish — March 5, 2006 @ 6:49 pm