On his Comedy Central show Monday night, comedian Jon Stewart played a montage contrasting journalist and pundit Bill O’Reilly’s calls for the right to privacy for celebrities from paparazzi as opposed to his favored method of journalism: invading people’s right to privacy by harassing them in public.
First off, let me assure readers that I don’t suffer from O’Reilly Derangement Syndrome like some who might criticize him. I enjoy watching his show and agree with O’Reilly on a number of points. And yes, he’s right to try and ask the tough questions.
That said, there’s a difference between asking the tough questions and sticking around to harass people after they’ve already said no to answering your questions, as often seems to happen in these “ambush” interviews. You see, most reporters would be content with knocking on the door, attempting to get a statement, and if they can’t: “Mr. Doe declined to comment.” But, as we can see in some of that video, O’Reilly (well, his producers, who do the dirty work) typically opt to stick around well after their welcome is up.
I don’t know if O’Reilly’s philosophy is to try to publicly shame the people he goes out to interview (whose actions are typically of the far-left variety), but if that’s the case, for someone who claims to be doing journalism on his show, that doesn’t appear overly objective to me. More like someone with an axe to grind.
I think Stewart is right in calling out O’Reilly for defending celebrities from paparazzi while he himself approaches his interviewees in a similar manner. And I think that’s the important point. It’s not his goal that’s the problem (assuming it’s objective news reporting), it’s his approach toward achieving that goal.
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Picking on Bill O’Reilly. Wow, now there’s some “heavy lifting” C’mon John, its a new administration. This is a “target rich” environment. HOw ’bout Tim Geithner and his “detailed” plan presentation. (Similar to his attention to detail in tax returns). How ’bout Joe Biden’s statement of we’ll get about 1/3 wrong. I mean is that a good batting average? What third will you get wrong?
For the record, John Stewart did make fun of Tim Geithner’s plan.
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Picking on Bill O’Reilly. Wow, now there’s some “heavy lifting” C’mon John, its a new administration. This is a “target rich” environment. HOw ’bout Tim Geithner and his “detailed” plan presentation. (Similar to his attention to detail in tax returns). How ’bout Joe Biden’s statement of we’ll get about 1/3 wrong. I mean is that a good batting average? What third will you get wrong?
John, show me you can be a bipartisan “skewerer”.
For the record, John Stewart did make fun of Tim Geithner’s plan.