Democratic Underground - O'Reilly calls Edwards a liar about Faux News' bias

Note: you can watch a 2 minute video of O'Reilly getting pwn3d on this at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

O'Reilly claimed Edwards is "actually lying" about Fox News' treatment of Democrats

==Summary: After playing a clip of John Edwards asserting that "Fox News ... has a clear and long history of bias against Democrats," host Bill O'Reilly responded that "John Edwards has been on the Fox News Channel 33 times," and that, in reviewing those interviews, "ot once could I find anything insulting, demeaning, or disrespectful to the senator." In fact, beyond Edwards' treatment while a guest on Fox News, O'Reilly himself and numerous other Fox News personalities have repeatedly made "insulting, demeaning, or disrespectful" statements about Edwards and other Democrats.

During the August 7 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, after playing a clip of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards asserting that "Fox News ... has a clear and long history of bias against Democrats," host Bill O'Reilly responded that "John Edwards has been on the Fox News Channel 33 times," and that, in reviewing those interviews, "ot once could I find anything insulting, demeaning, or disrespectful to the senator." O'Reilly then asked Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers, "So he's actually lying, is he not?" When Powers responded that Edwards was "making a broader claim against Fox," O'Reilly repeated that "he was on 33 times and treated with complete respect." Similarly, on the August 9 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, discussing how "some of the Democratic candidates have been attacking Fox News," O'Reilly questioned why they "want to make enemies -- particularly a guy like John Edwards, who is treated very well here, 33 times he was on." O'Reilly continued: "We pored over the transcripts. There was never one time that this guy was unfairly treated while he was on this network." O'Reilly went on to assert that the Democrats' attacks on Fox News "might come back to bite them in the you-know-where."

But beyond the question of how Edwards was "treated" during his various appearances on Fox News, O'Reilly himself and numerous other Fox News personalities have repeatedly made "insulting, demeaning, or disrespectful" statements about Edwards and other Democrats.

Additionally, during the August 9 program, O'Reilly referred to Fox News as "far and away the highest-rated cable news outfit," and asserted, "e're growing while the others are disintegrating." In fact, a recent comparison by the blog TVNewser of the three cable news channels' ratings in June 2006 and June 2007 found that CNN and MSNBC's audience grew at a greater rate over that period than that of Fox News. According to TVNewser's analysis, CNN's prime-time viewership increased (across all age groups) by 17 percent and its all-day audience by 10 percent. MSNBC's prime-time viewership increased by 38 percent and its all-day audience by 34 percent. Meanwhile, Fox News' prime-time viewership increased by 10 percent and its all-day audience by 8 percent.==

Read the rest, plus some classic quotes from Faux personalities on Edwards and other Democrats at http://mediamatters.org/items/200708100006?f=h_latest

O'Reilly calls Edwards a liar about Faux News' bias [View All]