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.
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