One culture quiz question too many? Bill O’Reilly appeared to be hoisted on his own petard today.* Or, at least, that of his O’Reilly Factor Culture Quiz queen and Live Desk (LD) co-anchor, Martha MacCallum.
During a LD discussion on who was the most trusted person in America after the death of Walter Cronkite, of lib Forbes columnist and FNC frequent guest Dan Gerstein, MacCallum facetiously asked, “What do you think, Dan? Bill O’Reilly is what you were going to say, right?” Not necessarily towing the network line, Gerstein subtly reminded viewers of O’Reilly’s embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit by Andrea Mackris,** a former producer: He replied, “We know some things about Bill that we might not have known twenty years ago that affects [sic] people’s trust….I would probably say Oprah.”
Not the answer that MacCallum expected. Nor the one that the cable king and his network probably appreciated.
*LD (07/22/09) – 1:41 p.m. ET
**http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7578-2004Oct28.html
Tags: Andrea Mackris, Bill O'Reilly, Culture Quiz, Dan Gerstein, FNC, Forbes, Fox News, Live Desk, Martha MacCallum, O'Reilly Factor, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Walter Cronkite
Carpe Diem 
August 12, 2009 at 2:56 pm
There is definite generational differences between the two. Cronkite touched america like no others could or ever will in the media. But what bill has been doing is setting the standard for today’s pundits and keeping corruption of all kinds in check. Just take a look at the Nielson ratings to see how bill crushes all other news programs.