How Bill O’Reilly imploded at CBS following his Falklands War ‘combat’ reporting

Washington Post ^ | February 23, 2015 | By Terrence McCoy

[Brad from Tennessee]

Remembering a lunch date that happened more than 30 years ago isn’t easy. But then again, most lunches aren’t with Bill O’Reilly.

So late Sunday night, speaking on the telephone from his Florida home, former CBS correspondent Eric Jon Engberg found himself in a peculiar position. It was indeed true that once, in June of 1982 while covering the Falkland War from Buenos Aires, he had shared a meal with O’Reilly. But how much did Engberg remember? Did he remember what O’Reilly had eaten? “This was more than 30 years ago,” Engberg told The Washington Post. “So, no.”

But Engberg, who spent weeks in Buenos Aires before O’Reilly arrived, remembered something else: O’Reilly’s braggadocio. There was a distinct sense of entitlement emanating from his lunch partner, he said, which struck Engberg as odd. The situation in Buenos Aires was deteriorating, and O’Reilly was young and green.

O’Reilly, however, wasn’t interested in tips. “I tried to give him some advice, give him a read on how the place worked,” Engberg told The Post. “He didn’t seem too interested. I offered in a suggestion on how things worked and he didn’t pay any attention to me. … I saw him as someone who wasn’t willing to be held back by the restrictions that govern rookie reporters — the fact you got to get up in the morning and go over to whatever briefing was going on and report it to your bosses and wait for your next assignment. He was the kind of guy who wanted to find a story that was going to get him on the air that night.”

[iowamark]

We are supposed to think that something is wrong with BOR because he didn’t get along with Dan Rather’s CBS?

[TigersEye]

Engberg told The Post. “He didn’t seem too interested. I offered in a suggestion on how things worked and he didn’t pay any attention to me. … I saw him as someone who wasn’t willing to be held back by the restrictions that govern rookie reporters — the fact you got to get up in the morning and go over to whatever briefing was going on and report it to your bosses and wait for your next assignment. He was the kind of guy who wanted to find a story that was going to get him on the air that night.”

Is that supposed to be painting a bad picture because I'm not getting a bad picture out of that.

[vpintheak]

Apparently he knew something of what he was doing. Numbers don’t lie...

[riverdawg]

I'm not a bif fan of BOR but even Politico says the Mother Jones story doesn't have legs:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/02/why-the-bill-oreilly-charges-arent-sticking-202962.html

[riverdawg]

bif = big

[jjotto]

Almost nobody in the MSM is going to go down the smear BOR road too far. People in glass houses and all...

[riverdawg]

I just looked up the cover story in this issue of Newsweek on the Buenos Aries riots in June 1982. There are two color photos of the riots, the one on the bottom of the cover showing several riot police and maybe some tear gas in the distance and one inside at the story showing three blue-clad rioters apparently helping to set fire to some debris in the street). The write-up is just a couple of paragraphs, with no mention of any deaths or injuries during the riots. Of course, this is Newsweek, FWIW.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-Newsweek-Wars-Without-End-Bloodshed-In-Beirut-Rioting-In-Buenos-Aires-/261251582723

[Verginius Rufus]

Bill O'Reilly went to Harvard (as he will occasional admit). You can always tell a Harvard man, but you can't tell him much.

Eric Jon Engberg went to the University of Missouri.

[Fledermaus]

I don’t care too much for BO’R but where is the CBS guy today in comparison?

[x]

Bill O'Reilly went to Harvard (as he will occasional admit).

Kennedy School of Government. He did his undergrad at Marist College.

[FredZarguna]

Proving exactly nothing whatsoever.

[Awgie]

Entitled pompous self promoting journalista food fight!

I am biased towards Bill O.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[I don’t care too much for BO’R but where is the CBS guy today in comparison?]

Television is an entertainment medium and that includes the news. If newscasts aren't entertaining people won't watch. TV news anchors are highly paid actors who portray broadcast journalists. They are selected for looks, voice, hair and charisma. They read news copy produced and written by other people. Brian Williams’ mistake was he confused his real self with the fictional character he portrays on nightly news.

Dan Rather screwed up because he was hoodwinked by a total crackpot with counterfeit government documents so flimsy they wouldn't fool a summer intern at a small town weekly paper. But Rather was fooled because he isn't a reporter but an entertainer.

Bill O’Reilly is successful because he knows he is an entertainer and embraces it. O’Reilly portrays a semi-informed, emotionally volatile boor. Archie Bunker in an $800 suit. If O’Reilly was really the character he plays
he would have jumped off the rails long ago.

[Mamzelle]

I’ll still take BOR’s word over MSM nitwits.

[muir_redwoods]

The most comical element of this non-issue for me is that the left considers O’Reilly as a conservative.

[Verginius Rufus]

I was being sardonic...or perhaps mordant (to use one of Ted Baxter's recent "words of the day"). The benefit of attending Harvard is to be able to tell people afterwards that you graduated from there--there are probably many places where a student can get as good or better an education.

More than 15 years ago I was on a search committee for an academic position. One of the applicants had a Harvard Ph.D. and did not make the short list. The person who was hired (who has a Ph.D. from one of the Big Ten universities) has done an excellent job.

[tanknetter]

The “Black Buck” missions, with RAF Vulcans bombing targets on the Falkland Islands (trying to cut the runway at Stanley with bombs and taking out Argie radars with Shrikes) were designed in part to let the Argies know that the RAF could go after mainland targets, if Maggie Thatcher asked it to.

Remember that the invasion of the Falklands was intended to shut down domestic social unrest by creating a unifying “rally ‘round the flag” effect that boosted national pride. So there were definitely social tensions before, and most certainly after, the Falklands War. Including the June 1982 riots cited above.

[windsorknot]

Even if there were something to this story, you would have to prove that BOR is a serial liar to catch up with the Life of Brian.