Former Fox News contributor and journalism professor Jane Hall explained that the media should hold Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to the same standard Brian Williams faced after news broke of his multiple reporting fabrications.

Recently, O'Reilly has faced increased criticism and scrutiny following the news of various discrepancies and fabrications in stories he told about his journalistic credentials which may have wrongly benefited his career. The controversy has spurred calls from a veterans group and other organizations for O'Reilly to be held accountable for his fabrications by Fox. O'Reilly has even faced criticism from former colleagues at CBS, Inside Edition, and now Fox News. 

During an interview with The Wrap, O'Reilly's former colleague at Fox, American University journalism professor Jane Hall said that media outlets should hold O'Reilly to the same standard as Brian Williams, who was suspended for six months after he acknowledged “exaggerating his role in a helicopter episode in Iraq.” According to Hall:

“I think the media reporting should hold [O'Reilly] to the same standard [as Brian Williams],” former Fox News contributor and American University Journalism Professor Jane Hall told TheWrap. “He reaches how many millions of people a night? If people in the media are dismissing him as, 'he's an entertainer,' I think they're vastly underestimating his influence.”

A Fox News spokesperson told The Wrap Hall's contract was not renewed and she was let go; Hall says she left of her own volition.

Hall thinks NBC News' swift response to the Williams scandal was appropriate in the context of the sober “Nightly News” brand, but emphasized O'Reilly shouldn't be let off the hook.

“He is an opinion host, but I don't think that means reporters shouldn't be writing about it given his influence and his ratings,” adding that the question reporters need to ask is, “what is your audience, what is your reach, what is your political influence?”