In an effort to "clarify the record," Fox News host Bill O'Reilly admitted that Jane Fonda did not pass secret notes from U.S. prisoners of war to their Vietnamese captors, as he had previously claimed. Media Matters for America has previously documented O'Reilly and other Fox News commentators repeating the smear (here and here). O'Reilly's "clarification" came just one day after he asserted that "in eight and a half years, we have not had to retract one story here."
Here are some other corrections that O'Reilly has made since Media Matters began monitoring him, though, as in his "clarification" of the Fonda story, he has not called them "retractions":
- Even as he stood by his criticism of a Houston Chronicle editorial, O'Reilly admitted on May 13 that he had misattributed a quotation to the Chronicle during his original report. "My mistake. No excuses," he said. He also admitted that the Chronicle's editorial didn't say that a new Florida law on sex offenders "was too harsh."
- O'Reilly admitted that he had called Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) a "nut" a day after denying it on his show. On the January 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly explained: "I forgot that I indeed did apply that word to Senator Boxer, while analyzing her strategy, or lack thereof, to fight terrorism."
Media Matters would like to suggest some other cases where O'Reilly should "clarify the record."
- March 1, 2005: O'Reilly used a February 28 State Department report on human rights around the world to argue that the Bush administration is adequately addressing allegations of torture by U.S. interrogators. In fact, the report did not examine alleged human rights violations by the United States.
- February 16, 2005: O'Reilly used phony budget statistics to claim a "staggering increase" in federal spending on food stamps and housing assistance.
- February 15, 2005: O'Reilly claimed that "No lies have been told about anyone ... and you can't produce one, madam." Media Matters highlighted a few falsehoods he has told about Democrats.
- January 19, 2005: O'Reilly attacked Boxer with a series of lies and distortions, including a false claim that Boxer had accused then-Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice of allowing her "ideological loyalty" to President Bush to take precedence over her support for the troops. In fact, Boxer never mentioned Rice's "respect for the troops," instead claiming that Rice had allowed her loyalty to Bush to overwhelm her "respect for the truth." (Even after several callers to his radio show tried to correct the misquotation, O'Reilly defended his falsehood.)
- January 4, 2004: O'Reilly said that the Geneva Conventions apply only to soldiers, when in fact, the Fourth Geneva Convention ("Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War") lays out separate protections for civilians, which the International Committee for the Red Cross has stated
ought to apply to so-called "unlawful combatants." - December 21, 2004: O'Reilly said that a school in Washington "banned" a stage production of A Christmas Carol because the school feared it would violate the constitutional separation of church and state. In fact, the school cancelled the show because the theatre company putting on the play planned to charge admission, a violation of school policy, and because the principal had not approved the event.
- December 16, 2004: O'Reilly asserted that "you don't see prominent conservatives cursing out Democratic members of Congress." Unless the moniker "prominent conservative" does not apply to Vice President Dick Cheney, O'Reilly's assertion is false.
- July 26, 2004: O'Reilly falsely claimed that as a candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean advocated "pull[ing] out of Iraq immediately."
- July 19, 2004: After a viewer questioned the legitimacy of Bush's election in 2000, O'Reilly falsely claimed that "Bush would have won [in Florida] no matter what."
- April 27, 2004: O'Reilly fabricated evidence that his "boycott" of French imports had been successful by citing a non-existent publication -- the "Paris Business Review" -- that had supposedly reported on the success of his French boycott campaign.
Media Matters awarded O'Reilly its "2004 Misinformer of the Year" award, which he "accepted" (sort of). On December 19, 2003, O'Reilly admitted, "I also make mistakes from time to time. When you do news analysis every day, you're going to make some wrong calls." He still insisted, however, that "I try to base my opinions on facts, and our research is usually top notch. In more than seven years on the air, we have never had to retract a story, although we have made a few factual mistakes. We try to correct those mistakes quickly."
From the May 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day": setting the record straight on Jane Fonda. Now, last night I told Nick Gillespie of Reason magazine that I was not willing to give Ms. Fonda a pass on the accusation she turned over notes from American POWs to the North Vietnamese during her trip to Hanoi.
A web site called Snopes.com has investigated and debunked that accusation. They say it's not true.
Well, we decided to research it. We spent the day doing it. And the indication is that Snopes is correct! The story is bogus. So at this point, lacking any definable evidence to the contrary, Jane Fonda did not turn over any POW notes to the Vietnamese.
We're happy to clarify the record. It would be ridiculous not to do so. All right. Way to go, Snopes.com.
From the May 17 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, with Newsday columnist and Fox News contributor Ellis Henican:
HENICAN: I'm glad you've never made a mistake, sir.
O'REILLY: In eight-and-a-half years, we have not had to retract one story.
HENICAN: Because people make mistakes in this business. You know what? Factual mistakes end up in everybody's reporting at some point.
O'REILLY: OK. Here's a fact, Ellis.
HENICAN: Everybody --
O'REILLY: Eight-and-a-half years on the air at The Factor, never retracted a story. That's a fact.
HENICAN: Well, I don't know if you've retracted any, but I'm sure you, like all human beings, have occasionally, Bill O'Reilly, make mistakes.
O'REILLY: Look, I do make mistakes. I put you on the air.
HENICAN: And I came. How about that?
&mdash R.S.K.
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