On the June 20 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann criticized Bill O'Reilly's defenses of Fox News' scant Iraq war reporting and aired O'Reilly's June 19 claim -- documented by Media Matters for America -- that NBC News was “jazzed” by a recent story involving a U.S. airstrike that killed seven Afghan children. As Media Matters noted, on the June 12 editions of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor and Westwood One's The Radio Factor, O'Reilly responded to a Project for Excellence in Journalism study, which found that Fox News spent less time covering the Iraq war than CNN and MSNBC in the first three months of 2007. On his June 12 radio program, O'Reilly claimed that “Fox News creams CNN and MSNBC in the ratings, all day, every day. At 8 o'clock, The [O'Reilly] Factor beats every single -- not only MSNBC and CNN, but CNBC and Headline News combined. Because we bring you stuff that is new, that is relevant to your life.” As the weblog Crooks and Liars documented, Olbermann noted this comment and went on to air a video montage contrasting O'Reilly's defenses of Fox News with “a brief sample” of stories from the past week that O'Reilly had “decided are more relevant to your life than the horrors and realities of war.”
From the June 20 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
OLBERMANN: Bill O'Reilly has resumed telling you what you can and cannot think and what you can and cannot watch. Our number one story on The Countdown: Angry at MSNBC, as usual, over personal things like him getting thrown out of a baseball team's clubhouse the other day because he didn't have the right credentials, but I did, Bill-O has again tried to pretend that he's taking some kind of high moral stance in ripping NBC. He is not, unless he really thinks propaganda and lying to the public and censoring the news comprise a high moral stance.
Oh, and don't forget the secular-progressive outrage that is an epidemic of attacks on Americans by bears.
O'REILLY [video clip]: All three network newscasts reported seven Afghan children were killed in fighting between the Taliban and U.S. forces. ABC News spent 15 seconds on the story; just told you about it; CBS News: 10 seconds. But NBC News gave it a full two minutes. Dead Afghan kids killed in an American airstrike, NBC News is jazzed.
OLBERMANN: He also explained that he brings his listeners and viewers stuff that is new, stuff that is relevant to your life. We decided to give you a brief sample of the stuff Bill-O and Fox Noise have recently decided are more relevant to your life than the horrors and realities of war, and all of these are from the past week.
[begin video and audio clips]
O'REILLY: Caution, you are about to enter the “No-Spin Zone.”
O'REILLY: We bring you stuff that is new; that is relevant to your life.
O'REILLY: Next, gold medal Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard, who is undraped in Playboy this month.
O'REILLY: And I'm not going to cover every bomb that goes off in Tikrit because it's meaningless.
O'REILLY: “Unresolved Problem” segment tonight: the increasing problems with bears.
O'REILLY: On my program, I don't do a lot of Iraq reporting, because we don't know what's happening.
O'REILLY: Plenty more ahead as The Factor moves along this evening: big rock 'n' roll controversy. Who is blocking the Monkees from being in the Rock Hall of Fame?
O'REILLY: What do you learn about a terror bombing in Baghdad every day?
O'REILLY: Our body language expert will analyze the latest Rosie O'Donnell Internet posting.
O'REILLY: You get a lot of bang-bang for the sake of bang-bang, OK. No context, burning stuff.
O'REILLY: When we come right back, having sex in your sleep. Is that a legitimate defense against rape charges or total B.S.?
O'REILLY: We're trying to do the facts, and there's nothing to be learned from another explosion.
O'REILLY: Which performer did not appear with Burt Reynolds in the Smokey and the Bandit movies? Did not appear with him -- A. Kris Kristofferson --
STEVE DOOCY (Fox News host): Oh, please!
O'REILLY: There's little news value in broadcasting daily bombings.
O'REILLY: The Factor continues 24/7 on BillOReilly.com. Best Father's Day stuff. “Spin Stops Here” pen: Dad wants it.
O'REILLY: The folks know news when they see it.
[end video and audio clips]
OLBERMANN: We didn't even include tonight's loop of supposed Paris Hilton pornography.