Bill O’Reilly Defends Fox News News VP Who Gave His Tea Party Opinion

Bill O’Reilly spent several segments last night discussing the tea party movement and attempting to defend Fox News VP of News and Washington managing editor Bill Sammon for his blanket statement about the mainstream media’s ‘hatred’ of the partying.

It included a contentious interview with Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei, a talk with Brit Hume (who previously held Sammon’s job) and a “Talking Points” opening (including some ‘original reporting’).

Politico’s Michael Calderone highlighted Sammon’s comments on FOX News Sunday, when the News VP said: “The mainstream media hates the tea party movement almost as much as it hates Sarah Palin. And the reason is simple: that’s because both are a threat.” That sentiment was rebuked by Chuck Todd and others.

Well O’Reilly and his staff did some original reporting, and guess what, Sammon was right. “Amidst thousands of reports,” on the tea parties, The Factor staff found just “two positive comments,” in the Detroit Free Press and the AP. Since those are just words, we’ll leave that alone. What defines a “positive comment”? Did his staff really scour “thousands of reports”? And aren’t there other options besides “positive reports” and ‘hatred’ of the tea party movement? Like, for example, ‘fair and balanced’ reports.

VandeHei vehemently disagreed with O’Reilly, calling Sammon’s comment “ridiculous.” “He has no clue. You wouldn’t even be able to prove that charge to begin with,” he said.

Meanwhile in the same discussion where O’Reilly called some tea partiers “crazy,” Hume seemed to disagree with the Factor host’s reporting. “Bill Sammon has a point if you look at the blend of reporting and commentary on the tea party movement if you go back early to its inception,” he said, but: “The coverage of late, at least the news coverage, commentary aside, has been more neutral and more extensive and better than it was.”

The biggest point here is that Sammon – supposedly an objective presence within Fox News – is making these sweeping generalizations that are based on no facts at all. The fact that it is Sammon is specifically striking. He was the executive who put out a strongly-worded internal memo after the 9/12 Tea Party flap:

Our viewers are counting on us to be honest brokers when it comes to reporting — not altering –the important events of the day. That is nothing less than a sacred trust. We must always take pains to preserve that trust.

Reporting, not altering. Honest brokers. How can a reasonable opinion host, or an objective news VP, find that Sammon’s comments fall into that category? It is moments like this that give FNC critics ammunition about a bias not just in opinion but the news side of the top-rated cable news network.

Here’s some of the O’Reilly/VandeHei segment:

>>>NEXT PAGE: O’Reilly’s Talking Points and full Hume interview.