Bill O’Reilly’s 1982 Falklands War stories called into question

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news.yahoo.com/bill-o-reilly-s-1982-falklands-war-coverage-called-into-question-143346003.html
Did O’Reilly tell the truth about his coverage of the Falklands war?
Here are some quotes which are being questioned:
“I was in a situation one time, in a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands, where my photographer got run down…"
“You know that I am not easily shocked. I’ve reported on the ground in active war zones from El Salvador to the Falklands.”
“Hey, Colonel, did you ever have a hostile point an M-16 at your head from 10 yards away? That happened to me while I was covering the Falklands war.”
But O’Reilly says that “Everything I’ve said about my career is 100 percent accurate,” …“I never said I was on the Falkland Islands.

latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-oreilly-falklands-20150219-story.html
theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/20/fox-news-bill-oreilly-accused-of-exaggerating-war-zone-exploits
mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/20/veteran-war-reporters-oreillys-falklands-fibs-v/202590
 
If you can find the photographer, that could be the smoking gun.

I interpret the quotes above as him coming under fire while in Argentina, while covering the Falkland Islands war.
 
Stylteralmaldo said:
If you can find the photographer, that could be the smoking gun.

I interpret the quotes above as him coming under fire while in Argentina, while covering the Falkland Islands war.
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It seems that the left is looking for a journalist on the right to balance out the loss of Brian Williams.

Please note, I don’t like Bill O’Reilly and I did like Brian Williams. I find O’Reilly’s style irritating, but this whole story is around simply because, in my opinion, some on the left can’t stand the loss of someone like Williams.

Peace

Tim
 
Stylteralmaldo said:
I interpret the quotes above as him coming under fire while in Argentina, while covering the Falkland Islands war.
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If I recall correctly, the war zone excluded the land territory of Argentina. His “Hey Colonel” quote seems particularly over the line. He was presumably either challenging a military officer he disagreed with, or trying to be chummy with one, by touting his battlefield experience. Since he was presumably in Buenos Aires, I assume the “hostile” was probably the security detail at a rally, or maybe he went down the wrong hall in the Ministry of Defense.

I find his bravado to be entertaining, but as he makes it his business to get in the face of many of his interviewees over trivial and misleading details, his feet should absolutely be held to the fire on this one.
 
Bill O'Reilly:
Having survived a combat situation in Argentina during the Falklands war, I know that life-and-death decisions are made in a flash.
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He was in Buenos Aires covering the Falklands war. After the surrender, there were riots and attempted coup, with Argentine troops firing upon civilians and news crews. That qualifies as a “combat situation” as far as I am concerned.
Bill O'Reilly:
I was in a situation one time, in a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands, where my photographer got run down and then hit his head and was bleeding from the ear on the concrete.
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Again, anytime someone is getting shot at by an army, it’s a war zone. It might not be a declared war in that particular location, but that’s really a technicality. The bullets are just as real. I can forgive O’Reilly a little bit of hyperbole - we say that Toys R Us is a war zone on Christmas eve, but nobody gets shot.

The phrase that people latch onto is “in the Falklands.” They think he means, “in the Falkland Islands” (which would be false), not “in the Falklands war” (which is true).
 
Whether this is an agenda-driven story or not, I see little point in bringing it up. O’Reilly’s fans don’t care if he’s a liar. He could go on TV tonight and admit he made up every detail of his war correspondent experience, and his fans would laud for being so honest about his decades long deception.
 
Orogeny said:
It seems that the left is looking for a journalist on the right to balance out the loss of Brian Williams.

Please note, I don’t like Bill O’Reilly and I did like Brian Williams. I find O’Reilly’s style irritating, but this whole story is around simply because, in my opinion, some on the left can’t stand the loss of someone like Williams.

Peace

Tim
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Thank you. I don’t care for either man, but this is becoming ridiculous. Very childish too.
 
AyJSimon said:
Whether this is an agenda-driven story or not, I see little point in bringing it up. O’Reilly’s fans don’t care if he’s a liar. He could go on TV tonight and admit he made up every detail of his war correspondent experience, and his fans would laud for being so honest about his decades long deception.
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We could say the same about Brian Williams.

The bottom line is people are people. Neither “side” is angelic. :tiphat:
 
This story is actually several years old. The only reason it’s come to light now is Fox "news’s " hypocritical attack on Brian Williams, when they had their own liar in their own ranks.
 
I’m amazed that anyone still takes Mother Jones seriously.

This is to deflect from the damage that not necessarlily has been done to Brian Williams personally , but to the NBC “news” brand.
 
DeniseNY said:
Mother Jones didn’t break any story, it’s been around for years…and ignored.
It doesn’t matter whether you have faith in NBC “news” or Fox “news”, the facts are there and cannot be rationalized away.*
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Mother Jones has objected to the violent tone of O’Reilly’s response to the allegations, writing that O’Reilly’s suggestion that Washington editor David Corn deserves “‘to be in the kill zone’ crosses a line.”
“Like everyone in media today, we are concerned about the safety of our staff,” they wrote. “We’d have hoped that statements with this kind of violent tone would not come from a fellow media professional.”
huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/mother-jones-bill-oreilly_n_6722166.html
 
Seems to me Brian Williams will be looking for employment, I don’t think Bill will have that problem.
 
Orogeny said:
It seems that the left is looking for a journalist on the right to balance out the loss of Brian Williams.

Please note, I don’t like Bill O’Reilly and I did like Brian Williams. I find O’Reilly’s style irritating, but this whole story is around simply because, in my opinion, some on the left can’t stand the loss of someone like Williams.

Peace

Tim
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I don’t care for either of them…
 
GaryTaylor said:
Seems to me Brian Williams will be looking for employment, I don’t think Bill will have that problem.
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Brian Williams was supposedly a credable reporter of the news. We expected him to tell the truth. He SHOULD be looking for employment. (Good luck with that, Brian.) Bill O’Reilly, on the other hand, is an entertainer. And a very good one. He has lots of fans and he gives them exactly what they want. He’s not going anywhere until he’s good and ready.
 
Orogeny said:
It seems that the left is looking for a journalist on the right to balance out the loss of Brian Williams.

Please note, I don’t like Bill O’Reilly and I did like Brian Williams. I find O’Reilly’s style irritating, but this whole story is around simply because, in my opinion, some on the left can’t stand the loss of someone like Williams.

Peace

Tim
Click to expand...
That was my first thought too. I don’t watch either of them.
 
Tomdstone said:
Mother Jones has objected to the violent tone of O’Reilly’s response to the allegations, writing that O’Reilly’s suggestion that Washington editor David Corn deserves “‘to be in the kill zone’ crosses a line.”
“Like everyone in media today, we are concerned about the safety of our staff,” they wrote. “We’d have hoped that statements with this kind of violent tone would not come from a fellow media professional.”
huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/mother-jones-bill-oreilly_n_6722166.html
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About the only danger Mother Jones staff is likely to face is covering a “occupy” rally
 
DaddyGirl said:
This is not a war between “left” and “right”.
All sorts of media–both left and right, as you call them–are reporting on this Bill O’Reilly bit.
And* he himsel*f started it, not a left-leaning outlet trying to even the score.

If you read the articles, you will see that O’Reilly’s own rampage on his show last week, insulting the “left” media, is what started it…

“He bemoaned the supposed culture of deception within the liberal media, and he proclaimed that the Williams controversy should prompt questioning of other “distortions” by left-leaning outlets,”

His insults prompted co-workers to speak out about him and his own fabrications.

.
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Did you watch O’Reilly last week? I did. I watched his show all week. He didn’t over-cover the Williams story. In fact, he defended Williams on his show, more than once, and he also defended Williams on Kimmel:

politico.com/blogs/media/2015/02/bill-oreilly-defends-brian-williams-202381.html

The Mother Jones description of his coverage of the Brian Williams story wasn’t even remotely an accurate portrayal of his actual coverage of the story. They cherrypicked a clip out of context - he in NO WAY made the Williams issue about liberals - and they now are pushing the ridiculous idea that his coverage ticked off former coworkers. Yeah right.

You might be interested in knowing that Mother Jones has quite a thing for O’Reilly:

motherjones.com/search/apachesolr_search/bill%20o’reilly
 
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