Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik: Bill O'Reilly Is “The Face Of That Sick And Predatory” Culture At Fox News

From the April 9 edition of CNN's Reliable Sources:

No video provider was found to handle the given URL. See the documentation for more information.

BRIAN STELTER (HOST): David, here's how you frame the O'Reilly scandal in your latest piece. I wanted to pull this part out from your column from Baltimore Sun; you wrote, “when I come across [O'Reilly] on screen, the only thing that comes to mind is the sick, sexist, and predatory culture that is eating like a cancer at Fox News.” You say it's a cancer, tell me why.

DAVID ZURAWIK: I think, Brian, because it's spreading. It continues to grow. ... They're frightened, they don't want to work there. So, you get to a point at Fox where any woman who has other options, why would she want to work in that? That's a culture that Roger Ailes instituted, what, 20 years ago? And he's such an autocratic personality, do you know how deeply rooted that is?

[...] 

STELTER: David, I've got 30 seconds left. What's your prediction about what ends up happening here?

 

ZURAWIK: Short-term, Brian, I don't think anything happens with O'Reilly. He's the franchise, he's the tent pole for prime-time. But it's a rock and hard place, because if they don't go in and tear up that culture and if they don't take some action against somebody by O'Reilly, this thing will continue to fester. I have to say, though, Jane [Hall] is right about advertisers coming forward on their own in this case. It's going to take a big, big wildfire for this advertising boycott to affect them. But they have to do something and the danger right now, Bill O'Reilly has become the face of that sick and predatory culture and everything people have heard since Roger Ailes left the network. That is a difference in the perception of him, even by me as a critic.

Related:

Baltimore Sun: The Shrinking Of Bill O'Reilly

Previously:

These Are Bill O’Reilly’s Advertisers

Bill O’Reilly Is A Sexual Predator And Fox News Is A Hostile Work Environment. Advertisers Are Fleeing Because That’s A Liability.

The Sexual Harassment Crisis Is Bigger Than Just Bill O'Reilly