Far from being the combat-veteran hero who saved his cameraman that Fox News mouthpiece Bill O’Reilly portrays himself as when he was a young CBS correspondent covering the Falklands war, O’Reilly was ordered by his bosses to leave Argentina for insubordinate and disruptive behavior.
“The CBS bureau chief in Buenos Aires, Larry Doyle, an ex-Marine LRRP, was something of a legend among CBSers because of his personal courage and his knowledge about how to do your job without exposing yourself to undue danger. Early that night in Buenos Aires he assembled the camera crews in our hotel newsroom and instructed them to refrain from using the lights on their cameras while around crowds. Television lights attracted potentially violent people and also made the camera-person an easier target for demonstrators throwing rocks. …
“According to Doyle, O’Reilly returned to the hotel in a rage over the fact that his cameraman wouldn’t turn on the lights to photograph angry crowds. Doyle defended the cameraman and chewed out O’Reilly for violating his instructions on lights. When Doyle looked at the tape shot by O’Reilly’s cameraman he saw that … O’Reilly had ordered the cameraman to shoot — with his light on. …
“[T]he demonstrations … had been well covered by three or four camera crews …. All that footage was blended into the main story, narrated by Schieffer, who [was] the anchor on the scene. When Doyle informed O’Reilly that Schieffer would be doing the report … the reporter exploded. ‘I didn’t come down here to have my footage used by that old man,’ he shouted. Doyle was stunned. … This confrontation led the next day to O’Reilly being ordered out of Argentina by the CBS bosses. … ”
Kudos and hat tip to Daily Kos for this story. As for me, I don’t see how O’Reilly’s career can survive; Fox will have no journalistic credibility left if they don’t sack him.
Photo of Bill O’Reilly discussing strategy with Alan Pinkerton (l.), President Lincoln, and General McClernand (r.) at Antietam on Oct. 3, 1862. (Photo credit: Democratic Underground)