Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Money Talks, O'Reilly Walks

   After numerous allegations of sexual harassment and payouts of $13 million to the five women who brought them, followed by dozens of advertisers cancelling their plans to run commercial announcements on his television show, Bill O'Reilly has been fired by the Fox News Network.
   This follows the ouster of Roger Ailes as chairman of the network for similar reasons.
   In a statement, the company said, "After a thorough and careful review of the allegations," which O'Reilly called "unfounded," the two sides agreed that the commentator "will not be returning to the Fox News Channel."
   Several weeks ago, the New York Times published details of the arrangement where the company continued to support O'Reilly even as allegations against him increased.
   Oddly, the scandal seemed to have little effect on viewership of the show. But as with many other aspects of life, money talks louder than loudmouths, and the loss of advertiser revenue must have played a significant role in the company's decision.
   Since the published report, women's rights groups demanded O'Reilly be fired, and charged that top executives at the network failed to live up to their promise to improve conditions for women staffers at the company after the Ailes scandal.
   The O'Reilly ouster story immediately became headline news on other TV and print news outlets worldwide.

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