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Network Feud Fuels O'Reilly Attacks on GE, Olbermann
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There's an interesting article by Howard Kurtz in today's Washington Post detailing how a feud between TV pundits has morphed into a proxy battle between executives at the highest levels of Fox News and NBC. That feud is in large part fueling the recent attacks by Bill O'Reilly on the GE corporation:
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.
Both Fox and the Post are owned by Murdoch, who complained about Olbermann's conduct in separate calls to Zucker and Immelt.
The high-level appeals failed, and O'Reilly has escalated his criticism of GE in recent weeks, declaring, "If my child were killed in Iraq, I would blame the likes of Jeffrey Immelt."Not to whitewash GE's record on Iran, which I know little about, but I think Attaturk at FireDogLake has the proper response the Bill-O's attacks. That's all secondary, though. The real meat of the piece outlines how the O'Reilly/Olbermann feud has become something of a proxy war between executives at the highest levels of both networks struggling for a ceasefire, even as they disclaim any responsibility for the escalation of rhetoric on the part of Olbermann and O'Reilly.
What began four years ago as a colorful feud between rival commentators, instigated by Olbermann as a way of drawing attention, has become a tale of bruised egos and secret maneuvering at the highest levels of two multinational giants.
Fox News spokesman Brian Lewis said Ailes never offered a "quid pro quo" involving a cease-fire by O'Reilly and Olbermann. "That's editorial control of Bill's show, and we don't do that," he said. "Bill doesn't run topics by Roger, or anyone else for that matter."
Lewis dismissed the notion that Ailes has ever suggested using Murdoch's tabloid for revenge, saying: "Roger doesn't control the editorial policy of the New York Post."
....
Asked about O'Reilly's motivation, 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.
Fox would not comment on the criticism of Immelt, and O'Reilly declined to be interviewed.
....
Early last year, the sources say, Capus called Ailes to say that O'Reilly had gone over the line with reckless attacks on Engel. But, the sources recounted, Ailes said he agreed that NBC was against the war and had aligned itself with Olbermann's mockery. Capus, he said, had the power to shut down the situation by telling Olbermann to back off.
The conversation grew tense as Capus asked whether Ailes was threatening him with retaliation by O'Reilly and News Corp. if Olbermann kept up his criticism. Ailes kept returning to highly personal comments by Olbermann, whom he referred to with an expletive, and the impasse remained. The sources declined to be identified furnishing details of private conversations.
In last summer's conversation between Ailes and Zucker -- the two men have known each other since Zucker tapped him as a commentator for the "Today" show in the early 1990s -- the onetime Republican consultant asked whether NBC still cared about the truth. Olbermann had inaccurately called Ailes "the lead political consultant for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign." Ailes worked for Giuliani's New York mayoral campaign in 1989, but no evidence has surfaced that he played a role in the presidential bid.
Zucker did nothing as a result of the call. "I have never asked Keith Olbermann to tone anything down," he said in a brief interview.Even Rupert Murdoch has intervened in the feud, notably after blogger/activist Mike Stark had some success in drawing attention to O'Reilly's hypocrisy:
Murdoch's call to Zucker, which was polite in tone, involved a request that Olbermann not air video from a Daily Kos blogger who had made a scene at O'Reilly's Long Island home. That, Murdoch said, should be off limits.Considering the implications of network heads exercising such control over editorial content, Howard Kurtz does a pretty poor job of plumbing below the surface in his article. Nevertheless, the reporting provides an important peek into the kind of manipulation and horse trading that goes on at networks over sensitive topics - particularly when the credibility of the network or one of its reporters is on the line.
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