When media feuds go completely over the top

May 19, 2008

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly have been trading barbs for quite a while, creating a relatively entertaining, good ol’ fashioned media feud. By all appearances, Olbermann seems to be enjoying the dispute far more than O’Reilly is, with the latter tending to become enraged at the mention of the prior’s name.

I’ve never understood why O’Reilly would let himself get so distracted. Fox News likes to brag about being on top in the ratings, and O’Reilly has created a lucrative multimedia empire of his own, and yet Olbermann seems to drive him right over the edge.

How bad has it become? The WaPo’s Howard Kurtz has a fascinating front-page item today on where O’Reilly has taken the feud.

Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News star, is mounting an extraordinary televised assault on the chief executive of General Electric, calling him a “pinhead” and a “despicable human being” who bears responsibility for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq.

On the surface, O’Reilly’s charges revolve around GE’s history of doing business with Iran. But the attacks grow out of an increasingly bitter feud between O’Reilly and the company’s high-profile subsidiary, NBC, one that has triggered back-channel discussions involving News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker and General Electric’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt.

Ailes called Zucker on his cellphone last summer, clearly agitated over a slam against him by MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. According to sources familiar with the conversation, Ailes warned that if Olbermann didn’t stop such attacks against Fox, he would unleash O’Reilly against NBC and would use the New York Post as well.

What looked like a dispute involving high-profile, on-air name-calling has become something of a crusade. In recent weeks, O’Reilly has taken to saying of GE, “If my child were killed in Iraq, I would blame the likes of Jeffrey Immelt.”

All, apparently, because Olbermann has mocked O’Reilly, and NBC hasn’t stopped him.

I know very little about the substance behind O’Reilly slams on GE. Kurtz explained that the company has had a corporate presence in Iran for many years, but GE announced in 2005 that it would no longer accept new contracts in Iran, and would wind down its existing contracts.

Nevertheless, O’Reilly is apparently relentless on the subject, saying he’s “in this business” in order to “get” guys like GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Based on the WaPo report, O’Reilly’s bosses have offered Olbermann’s bosses something of a quid pro quo.

Asked about O’Reilly’s motivation, [GE spokesman Gary Sheffer] said that executives at Murdoch’s News Corp. “tell us if the attacks on O’Reilly end, the attacks on GE will end. They’ve had conversations with our news executives saying, ‘If you stop, we’ll stop.’ ” An NBC spokeswoman confirmed the calls.

Could O’Reilly and News Corp. be that thin skinned? Do they really care if O’Reilly is named the “worst person in the world”?

Why on earth launch this kind of on-air fight between two huge multi-national companies?

O’Lielly is just a schoolyard bully that finally got cracked in the nose, and he’s too much of a pussy to do anything about it, so he is basically running home crying to momma.

Pathetic is an understatement.

  • It is incredible to me that there are folks so mentally and intellectually challenged that they actually look forward to listening to the daily insane rants of folks like O’reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh and expect the rest of us to take them seriously.

  • GE should threaten to pull any advertising (I assume they have some through one of their divisions) unless Shrill spit shines Olbermanns’s shoes in front of the cameras.

  • I don’t understand why O’Reilly just doesn’t ignore Olbermann.

    When you are winning you should do your best to ignore the loser. Why mention him at all? You don’t want to give Keith free publicity.

    Of course, why would anyone at Fox listen to someone like me?

  • Arianna Huffington used to attack Tim Russert of MTP with the same glee, cleverness and ferocity that Keith Olbermann employs to rile O’Reilly. And then it stopped. I wonder why.

    You have to wonder how much independence these pundits really have, employed by corporate giants as they are. You can see here that it was all right for Olbermann to have some fun at O’Reilly’s expense, but when O’Reilly went after GE in retaliation, the corporate powers blinked.

    Do we really have a fourth estate anymore?

  • Could O’Reilly and News Corp. be that thin skinned? Do they really care if O’Reilly is named the “worst person in the world”?

    Of course they care. When you pull big ratings by airing the rantings of a bullshit artist, the last thing you want is someone else pointing out that, yes, your guy is in fact full of shit. They wouldn’t be caring if Olbermann weren’t having an effect. That indicates to me that it’s time to start kicking even harder.

  • I think “Hark” has a great point.

    I think this whole dust up points to how much our media is “corporate”. A free press is one that is not concerned with business or corporate considerations. Unfortunatley it seems more and more that business and corporate considerations come before a free press.

  • jeffrey immelt was recently criticized by his predecessor, jack welch. that he cares about.

    i’m sure he could give a rat’s ass about what o’reilly has to say.

  • I’m sure that everyone has seen the old video of O’Reilly at his old Inside Edition gig, going berserk on-camera. But in case you haven’t:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/12/bill-oreilly-on-inside-ed_n_101267.html

    This tells you just about all you need to know about O’Reilly. He has serious anger-management issues in addition to being a pompous ass.

    I hope Olbermann keeps on ribbing O’Reilly. Someday soon O’Reilly may flip out completely, live on his own show.

    Or does Fox need to use a tape-delay for him? 🙂

  • Cowards cry foul! Heroes know when to cry. I put O’Reilly as the former, and Olbermann as the latter in this case. -Kevo

  • So is O’Lielly going after everyone who’s been doing business with Iran, or just the people who have pointed out what a douchebag he is?

    I need to know.

  • Thinking along the same lines as hark #5. This is a clear argument against media ownership by multinational conglomerates.

  • This is bigger than Marlo Thomas’ big fued with the Lennon Sisters back in the ’60’s!

  • Obviously, KO should make him “Mega-worst Person In The World” tonight.

  • Why on earth launch this kind of on-air fight between two huge multi-national companies?

    Welcome to the non-lethal preview of World War, 2050. There are no more states, just rival multi-national corproations. It is sad, though, when life chooses such poor art (Tomorrow Never Dies).

  • I don’t understand why O’Reilly just doesn’t ignore Olbermann.

    What gets more attention in a public park—a sleeping baby, or one that’s screaming bloody murder at the top of its lungs? The shrill little man-cub at PhonyNews is the screaming-mad infant; the attention-getter for his time-slot. His program lacks any semblance of substance, just as the vacuous black pit of the infernal regions found between his ears lacks any semblance of substance.

    What more can I say—he’s dumber that a dead rock….

  • It’s about time KO retires the Worst Person bit — it’s getting old — and just declare BO as the Worst Person and be done with it. Then he could start a new bit, like Stupidist Person in the World, or Most Unhinged TV Personality in the World. He could still name BO every night but at least it’d be fresh.

  • When you are winning you should do your best to ignore the loser. Why mention him at all? You don’t want to give Keith free publicity.

    Aren’t these two shows equal in ratings now?

  • Has Faux Noise figured out that having O’Reilly totally lose it on air would be a big rating boost?

    Fake news at 11.

  • And for tonight’s Worst Person in the World, the bronze goes to George W. Bush for saying incredibly stupid things at the Knesset and attacking a democrat…he is not sure which one, maybe Jimmy Carter for helping poor people build houses or appeasing.

    The silver goes to Grandpa Simpson, also known as John McCain for not understanding what the hell is going on, but just agreeing with Bush again.

    And the gold goes to………Billo. For the 4th year in a row, this angry crackpot has tried everything he can think of (don’t strain yourself pal) to bring down the ratings of MSNBC and your favorite host. He has of course failed miserably. He looks like his splothes are getting closer together. Al Franken could not have been more right about this crazed Lying Liar. So, once again, for pure stupidity, hate mongering and anti american attacks on his fellow man, Bill orally is today’s WORST…PERSON……. IN THE WOOORRRLLLLD.

  • One goes after the others specific words and action and the other goes after the parent or the parent company for something unrelated to the actual dispute. That is page one fo the GOP handbook.

    I suspect KO might leave if NBC were to tell him to keep a lid on it. He is the golden boy over there, without him, they will slide back to whatever distance place they were before him.

    BillO not only goes after the parent of the parent company, he is going after them will easily provable lies. Yes because he is the squeaky wheel, people call people. I would imagine at some level the Exec’s at NBC love the whole controversy, especially when they get calls from the rapidly falling Fox News, their major competitor.

    And what is Fox News thinking, calling a competitor and telling them what to air ??
    What planet is that kosher on ??

  • I suspect KO might leave if NBC were to tell him to keep a lid on it.

    As Keith tells it, the execs at NBC and GE love the feud because it builds ratings for his show.

  • Gosh! GE has ties with IRAN!

    Next up: Bill O’Reilly blames the deaths of American service personnel on Halliburton, a company that has had extensive ties with Iran (at least prior to Dick giving them a head’s up to get the hell out).

  • #1 had the right answer to your question. Fox, and O’Reilly in particular, are bullies. They’re obsessed with domination and humiliation. They must be dominant, their opponents must be humiliated, and for their opponents to be dominant is perceived by them as a humiliation. That’s why they they engage in such pointless nonsense.

    And, it’s worth pointing out, it’s the exact same mentality behind the aggressive neocon foreign policy they peddle. The US must be dominant and must humiliate its perceived opponents to remind them of it’s dominance over them. If they act up, such as Iran pursuing nuclear technology, we have to humiliate them, and show them our dominance. What was it some right-winger once said right after September 11th? That we need to take some small country and throw them against a wall to show them we mean business. Same mentality.

  • And what is Fox News thinking, calling a competitor and telling them what to air ??

    do we have an antitrust lawyer in the house? i thought competitors in a defined market could not collaborate on what to offer or how to offer it? i believe “collusion” is the term? (and how fun would that be, by the way – antitrust against Fox, treble damages. . . whee!)

  • O’Reilly is “Worst Person in World” a couple times a week.

    Last week Olberman had a body language “expert” on to evaluate O’Reilly’s hand gestures. You know it was B.S., but still definitely funny.

  • Do we really have a fourth estate anymore?

    Wait until 01/21/2009. Then Cheney will declare himself to be a separate estate unto himself. He can be the new fourth or the original fifth, depending on how you care to count it.

  • Which brings to mind (if only for the sake of insight) the “Tong War” episode of the radio newspaper drama NightBeat (NBC; 1950-52), as starred Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone (“I cover the night beat for the Chicago Star. Stories start out in many different ways …”).

  • I hope Billo doesn’t get Fox Security to track us all down and pay us a visit. I am starting to be fearful, like Grandpa Simpson McCain wants us to be.

  • Righties are always thin-skinned because deep down when they wake up in a cold seat in the middle of a warm summer night, they know that it’s wrong to be Right.

    Since Fox is circling the bowl along with everything else Republican, NBC can afford to let them go on.

    Bill O’Reilly: living proof that in at least one instance, the English were right bout the southern Irish.

  • What would be fun would be for Keith to start “Bill O’Reilly’s Daily Lies” – a 5-minute segment hitting everything the blowhard moron says.

  • That’s kind of game, set, match for Keith. Billo, the schoolyard bully, just got caught running home crying to mommy.

  • Aside from the obvious – that multinational corporations shouldn’t own any media outlets at all – you can’t tell where GE ends and the federal government begins. In the days of Welch, his private jet (I knew one of his pilots) would land at Washington National and the limo from the White House would be on the tarmac to wisk him right to the comfort of the Lincoln bedroom.

    Ailes has to be one of the most toxic bastards the world has ever seen. He is the worst person in the world, not thin-skinned bully O’Reilly. But he has Murdoch’s ear, who is certainly second in line behind Ailes. Olberman is obviously scoring, and that hurts bullies more than anything. So taking the fight out of the ring into the backroom is interesting. This one is hard to predict. Immelt has a board to report to. Murdoch controls everything in his empire. I sure hope we hear more about this. CLASH OF THE MEDIA TITANS – GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

  • I have to go with #24, let the Worst Person thing end just like that. But then at long last, KO could turn his attention to an actual serious story such as the Message Multipliers and MSNBC’s help with the rush to war in Iraq.

    I used to watch Olbermann, but quit because he became the anti-O’Reilly. What we need is the thing they used to call “news” back in the Cronkite era.

  • They see their power slipping away, and have come to the sad realization that it always depended on fear, not respect.

  • Interesting one paragraph blurb on Page Six in the NY Post (Murdock) about Olbermann pissing everyone off at MSNBC and acting like a lunatic. “Unnamed sources are waiting for the same meltdown that he had at ESPN” or somesuch (paraphrasing). Looks like the corporate boys are already well into it.

  • Here’s the link for Nat’s comment. Looks like Murdoch is following through on his reported threat to use the Post against Olbermann.

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