Bill O'Reilly: War Between the Free Media & the Elite Media? (Sami Al-Arian)

FoxNews ^ | Monday, February 24, 2003 | Bill O'Reilly

[Michael2001]

Has war broken out between the free media and the elite media? We're the free media. That's the subject of the Talking Points Memo.

First of all, thousands of people all over the world wrote to compliment us after Sami Al-Arian was arrested yesterday. We thank you all very much.

[First_Salute]

Good slider.

[dogdayafternoon]

Just like the Democrats will put Party before Country the Elite media put their ideology before facts!

[swampfox98]

Finally, the media world in America is changing rapidly. No longer do the network news or the newspapers in New York or L.A. define the stories that are important to you. Now cable news does that, simply because we're on 24 hours a day, and you can tune in at any time.

Praise God.

[sarasmom]

Not one mention by ole Bill that Steve Emerson broke this story in the mid 1990s.

Locally, this story has been circulating for many years.While I am glad that ole Bill has stuck with this story for a while, and did bring it to the forefront again, I am a little shocked that he tends to portray the alArian story as his own exclusive scoop.

Must be a media thing.

[Kay Ludlow]

I was kind of surprised at the next guests on O'Reilly - he had 2 people on talking about the leftist agenda (funded by the Ford Foundation) of open immigration, and their goal of changing American society.

He pretty much let them have their say, and called it "a real eye-opener".

[Retired Chemist]

Daniel Ruth of the Tampa Tribune called O'Reilly 'Fox's Gasbag in Residence' for taking credit & revealed that the Trib Questioned Al-Arian's ties to terrorists in 1995

[Missouri]

>>He pretty much let them have their say, and called it "a real eye-opener".<<


I seen the show, too.
O'Reilly invited people from the Ford Foundation to come on his show but they said no.
This is a "real eye opener".

[sarasmom]

Schnitt blasted O'Reilly's grab for fame this afternoon, and the original Tampa Tribune reporter who posted a series of stories on alArian in 1995, credited Emerson, and another reporter, whose name escapes me, for all the leg work on this story in an interview on WFLA,970, this morning.

I live in the Bay area, and O'Reilly may be properly credited with bringing this story back to the national spotlight, but he was certainly not the one who broke it, nor is he the one who dogged it for a decade.

I care little about cable news ratings, but ole Bill is not the one who deserves kudos for this story, and I think his lack of acknowledging the men who did pursue alArian, speaks volumes about the difference between news reporters and a news entertainers.IMHO.

Steve Emerson was damn near crucified by the both the mainstream and alternative press for his tenacity on this, and related issues.Nice to see some of them bow down to him now.O'Rielly is the flip side of Donohue, and not worth the airtime, IMHO.

[Retired Chemist]

Maybe Sami Can Think In This Tank: From The Tampa Tribune

On May 28, 1995, The Tampa Tribune published the first of a two-part report on our front page. It was written by reporter Michael Fechter. Here is how it began:
``On the University of South Florida campus, Sami Al-Arian is an award-winning young engineering professor.
``In his off hours, he presides over a nonprofit organization that helps raise money in the name of two groups that claim responsibility for bombings that have killed hundreds in Israel and around the world.´´
That was only the beginning, as Fechter followed the story from the Middle East to the equally Byzantine world of academia.
Over the years, Fechter has been hammered by competitors and academics alike. And you had to wonder, as the years went by, whether the feds or anybody else had the goods on Al-Arian or we were just flapping in the wind.


http://tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/columns/MGAG7D0LICD.html

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET

...Liberal Liar WALTER CRONKITE...

...who fooled us thru TV into leaving...

...the poor Free Souls of S.E. Asia...

...to their Fate at the hands of invading Communist Bullies from North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos...

...is the Father of today's Elite Media...!

...WALTER CRONKITE is now the Elite Media's Front Line of Defense for his Friend...

...HILLARY RODHAM, who would be President by 2004.


The Enemy is now Within...

and always has been.

NEVER FORGET

[Sonny M]

She did have surgery, why she talks weird, I have no clue. I used to think that she fell down the ugly tree, and hit every branch going down.