O’Reilly vs. Farhi: Update
DCRTV covers the Paul Farhi radio interview this morning…
In a phone interview on 3WT radio Friday morning, Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi (right) claimed that Bill O’Reilly “secretly taped me” and played his phone interview with the Fox News commentator on Thursday’s “The O’Reilly Factor” without Farhi’s consent. Farhi was heard telling O’Reilly: “Please don’t repeat this… You’re getting so dragged into something you don’t deserve,” regarding O’Reilly’s latest racial controversy, which Farhi reported about in Wednesday’s Post
Update: O’Reilly has now put himself on a dangerous slope. Nobody in their right mind will want to interview a guy who secretly tapes the interviewer, if that is the case (and it is on O’Reilly’s shoulders to prove that this taping was above board and fully disclosed in advance). That said, Farhi should show a little spine. If he believes something to be true then he should write about it that way instead of pandering to what his readers may or may not want to read.
Update 2: According to this, it is legal to tape phone conversations in New York State so O’Reilly has broken no laws doing this. Still I don’t see how anyone could ever again go into an O’Reilly interview without wondering whether something they say may be used against them at some future point. If it was me, my first question to O’Reilly would be “is this conversation being recorded”?
Update 3: Who’s going to be the first talking head to compare O’Reilly to another famous taper Richard Nixon?
Bill pulled the old “CYA” trick. He “Covered His A**” Good for you Bill! I will watch him, as I always do, tonight to see if this is brought up as it should be. Wait. What’s that sound I hear? Sounds like 2 knees quaking together. I guess Paul Farhi is gettin’ a bit nervous.
Comment by Kris — September 28, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
“O’Reilly has now put himself on a dangerous slope. Nobody in their right mind will want to interview a guy who secretly tapes the interviewer”
This is exactly what was going through my head while watching The Factor last night. I think this will damage BOR’s career much more than the bogus racism accusation.
Nobody’s ever going to confide in him or make comments “off the record”. I think this incident is really going to have a lasting impact. What was BOR thinking?
He really didn’t need to play that tape on air. What was the point? That the WaPo is in bed with Media Matters and the far left? Everybody already knows that.
Comment by TBDave — September 28, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Well the guy did stab him in the back on one hand he tells Bill he knows he’s getting a raw deal by the MSM then turns around and joins the O’Reilly is a racist bandwagon.
Comment by mlong — September 28, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
The guy is talking to a journalist on the phone on a big issue. What does he think? He wasn’t going to be taped? Since this Farhi guy still smeared BOR after the conversation then yes the tape should be played.
Comment by Lurker — September 28, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
In New York State one can record their own conversation without notifying the other party.
Here’s more info:
http://www.callcorder.com/phone-recording-law-america.htm#State%20Laws%20(Table)
Comment by 5w30 — September 28, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
All this b…..t about personal bashing should end. And all because a major TV figure, Bill O’Reilly, made comments that were benign but distorted. I don’t blame Bill for taping those comments, realizing his enemies are out there to ambush him. This is such a puerile exercise we should end any discussion now and start discussing more important issues. ENOUGH!
Comment by RGL — September 28, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
Alright, save the hate! I’ve steered clear of all BO threads for the last 3 days.. there must’ve been about 1000 of them. BO should be ashamed and by extension his employer too. Btw, does BO have any move audio/video secret recordings he’d like to share with the people? :>
Comment by Terance — September 28, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
O’Reilly is a pathological liar. He has no integrity. Must be shocking news to FOX “news” viewers.
To those living in the reality based world it is old news.
Comment by MikeD — September 28, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
Spud: If there is a copy of Fahri’s radio interview, listen, provde the link and comment.
Otherwise a little context: Dave Hughes who writes the DCRTV blog while a good reporter is basically left-leaning politically with a long standing animus towards O’Reilly.
Comment by Ira — September 28, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
You just contradicted yourself Ira. You called him a good reporter but then said why he isn’t any good on this story. Make up your mind. Either he’s a good reporter or he isn’t.
In any case, the quotes are what matter. I don’t think Hughes would fabricate those no matter how much he hates Bill…
Comment by Spud — September 28, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
Why should he be ashamed? The guy essentially tells O’Reilly, “I’m about to lie about you” and Bill is supposed to just sit there and take it? He’s supposed to say, thank you… go right ahead?
I would have taped him too… then used the tape to sue the newspaper, sighting the conversation as evidence that they knew what they were reporting was false.
Again, if anyone other than O’Reilly had done this, he would have been considered a “whistleblower” and a hero.
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 28, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
If it was me and I was faced with a weasely reporter who believed one thing but admitted he’d have to write something else, I’d end the interview right there and walk away…
Comment by Spud — September 28, 2007 @ 5:19 pm
These clowns declared war on O’Reilly a long time ago and are trying to dredge up a totally bogus story to bring him down now.
He is totally justified in fighting back. Just like if he wrongfully attacked one of them, they’re justified in fighting back.
Comment by bigred — September 28, 2007 @ 6:43 pm
Spud, unfortunately using the method you suggested would not have worked as the reporter’s story would probably have been filled with “half truths” “innuendos” and “outright lies”. To the less informed members of society it would have probably been believed.
I believe the American people are finally wising up and recognizing that there is true bias in the news media in this country. This is one of the reasons why the newspaper circulation keeps falling and I believe you’ll see major newspapers folding within the next 5-10 years.
I hate having to read a story and think what is the reporter’s mindset. Too many reporteres are entering the business wanting to be the next Woodward or Bernstein instead of just reporting the news.
Comment by Rich — September 28, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
Spud: Dave Hughes is very good at providing names and places of news items and breaking local DC media stories but all too often his bias is mixed in to the reporting. Still I’d like to actually hear the 3WT interview and make up my own mind.
The original call between O’Reilly and Fahri was not as you claim an “interview,” merely a call of inquiry from reporter Fahri. But you could argue that O’Reilly should have told Fahri if he was being recorded.
Comment by Ira — September 28, 2007 @ 7:55 pm
Rich, people have been predicting the demise of newspapers for as long as I can remember. Clearly, it is happening to one degree or another. But it’s a long-term trend and not likely to be affected by any reporter’s perceived bias. People aren’t abandoning newspapers in favor of C-SPAN, after all. They’re abandoning them in favor of biased TV and internet news coverage.
In other words, it’s the format people are abandoning, not the bias.
Newspaper circulation has been declining for decades. Thus, making a prediction that this or that paper will see declining circulation over the next few years is about the safest speculation you could ever make. Going a step further and assigning reasons that go beyond the established trend is misleading, I think. If the rate of decline suddenly speeds up, there might be reason to speculate about something else at work, but otherwise not so much.
Comment by berberry — September 29, 2007 @ 7:40 am
i am sure bill knew it was not against the law to record a conversation without the other parties permission. he was waiting to see if fahri would actually call out the liberal press in print as did man to man. obviously he did not which again showed the total liberal bias in the media.
Comment by eric l. thomas — September 30, 2007 @ 1:11 pm