ON OCTOBER 7th, 1996, on Fox News Channel’s first day of broadcasting, Bill O’Reilly lamented to viewers that television news was “mostly a rehash of what most educated viewers already know.” He promised he would be different.
More than two decades later, Americans can lament that Mr O’Reilly delivered on his promise. “The O’Reilly Factor” helped usher in an era of television “news” that educated viewers definitely did not know: that Al Qaeda had links with Saddam Hussein before the Iraq war; that the science on climate change was not settled; that white people were more likely to be killed by police than black Americans. Mr O’Reilly was television’s most successful purveyor of fake news long before there was a name for it.
On April 19th Mr O’Reilly was forced out of Fox News amid an escalating scandal over sexual harassment lawsuits and allegations against him. A report in the New York Times—detailing payments he and the network made of $13m to five women—was followed by a massive exodus of advertisers from his show. The network, run by Rupert Murdoch, was initially supportive of Mr O’Reilly, but Mr Murdoch’s sons James, chief executive of 21st...Continue reading
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