What Were They Thinking?: Crisis Communication: The Good, the Bad, and the Totally Clueless

The O’Reilly “Factor”: Knowing When to Shut Up

When FOX News producer Andrea Mackris accused the network ’s superstar Bill O’Reilly of sexual harassment and demanded $60 million from O’Reilly and FOX, all hell broke loose. O’Reilly, a tenacious brawler on the air, went on the offense; he said he would fight the charges to protect his reputation , credibility, FOX, and his family. In fact, within just a few hours of the story’s breaking on October 13, 2004, O’Reilly (who had a long history of bloviating on issues of morality and what he perceived to be appropriate and inappropriate conduct of others) filed a countersuit against Mackris and her attorney saying that she was intentionally and falsely trying to destroy his career and hurt FOX News, the most popular cable news operation on television.1 It wasn’t long before he changed his mind. O’Reilly on the Offensive Bill O’Reilly is no fool. He knew that fighting Mackris’s charges would put a public spotlight on these very sensitive and embarrassing accusations, and that he could be irrevocably hurt in the Bill O’Reilly and the lawyers for FOX News were thinking that “winning” in a court of law would not be worth it if their reputation took a sustained and embarrassing hit and if future earning power was diminished in the court of public opinion. What were they thinking?. They were absolutely right. Winning the battle in court is sometimes not worth losing the war in the public arena. The Lesson. 168 The O’Reilly “Factor” KNOWING WHEN TO SHUT UP Adubato_final_book 5/20/08 4:32 PM Page 168 court of public opinion. Originally he said that he didn’t care. In his own words: “I knew I was going to get vilified and vile stuff was going to be put out there. . . . It’s very embarrassing to have this stuff out there. Any human being would be depressed to see this. . . . This is the worst day of my life. . . . I have to protect the people closest to me. If I have to suffer, that’s the way it has to be.”2 So, while fully aware that this was going to get dirty, and with his reputation and his considerable ego on the line, O’Reilly came out of the gate in full stride, using his top-rated prime-time cable news program as a powerful platform to deny all charges against him. On the night of October 13, 2004, he opened The O’Reilly Factor program on FOX News this way: Hi, I’m Bill O’Reilly . . . thanks for watching us tonight . . . we are living in treacherous times. That’s the subject of this evening’s “Talking Points Memo.” Just about every famous person I know has been threatened and worked over by somebody. Fame makes you a target. It is something that has to be taken seriously. As I’ve mentioned before, I have received many threats over the years . . . everything from death letters to some guy running around the country offering people $25,000 to sign affidavits accusing me of whatever. The lawyers here at FOX News have been dealing with these situations . . . but there comes a time when enough is enough . . . and so this morning I had to file a lawsuit against some people who are demanding $60 million or they will “punish” me and FOX News . . . $60 million. I really can’t say anything else. I don’t want to waste your time with this. The justice system has the case. We’ll see what happens. But in the end, this is all about hurting me and the FOX News Channel. And that’s the memo.3 So there it was. O’Reilly’s initial reaction was to paint himself as a victim of someone who just wanted to hurt him and to say that he would fight back with his lawyers through the judicial system . As always, he was combative and seemed more than ready to go to war and take on what he claimed were false charges. THE O’REILLY “FACTOR” 169 Adubato_final_book 5/20/08 4:32 PM Page 169 A few days later there was a change in his “victim” status, but the forward offense was still a go. On The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly, O’Reilly’s popular radio program with millions of listeners, the controversial commentator attempted to explain why he...