O'Reilly reporting disputed
NEW YORK — CBS News on Monday released video from four stories it aired about the Falklands War in 1982, all part of a dispute involving Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly and his subsequent statements about covering the war.
None of the stories mentions O’Reilly, then a young CBS reporter, or makes any specific reference to a CBS crew member being hurt.
A Mother Jones article last week called into question O’Reilly’s claims he reported in a “war zone” or “combat zone” during the brief conflict between Britain and Argentina.
O’Reilly has said that he covered an anti-government demonstration in Buenos Aires that turned violent and that a photographer he was working with was knocked to the ground and was bleeding. Describing the events two years ago, O’Reilly said he “dragged off” the photographer from danger.
Former CBS News correspondent Eric Engberg, who also was covering the event, characterized O’Reilly’s account as “dishonest” and “completely nutty” during a Huffington Post interview on Monday.
The Mother Jones piece was printed shortly after NBC News anchor Brian Williams was suspended for misrepresenting his experiences in the Iraq War.
