Bill O'Reilly Tries to Have it Both Ways with Anthony Coverage

COMMENTARY | Bill O'Reilly had a lot to say over the Casey Anthony verdict Tuesday night. Or rather, O'Reilly had a lot to scream about the Anthony verdict, once Geraldo Rivera got him going. He was cited by Entertainment Weekly as saying that he was "so angry about the verdict," as was most of the media across the country. However, his case was undercut since he was angry about that same media outrage just minutes earlier.

As Entertainment Weekly pointed out, O'Reilly spent the first part of his show Tuesday night railing against Nancy Grace and the Headline News Network for how they "went 24/7" on the Anthony case. But he himself went nuts over the case for the rest of the hour, which crystallizes the media's role in the story more than anything.

This scandal and trial has followed the traditional media formula: Pundits rant about accused, infamous figures on trail then bemoan their own role in hyping up the proceedings in the next breath. But the press is hardly capable of criticizing the over-hype of these trials, since it is mostly the media's own fault, and since they keep doing the same thing over and over again.

Although O'Reilly was guilty of that after the Anthony verdict, he was hardly the biggest offender. He was set off by the biggest offender of all, Nancy Grace, who has become the symbol of the Anthony trial. She has railed against Casey for years, and didn't let up even after she was found not guilty.

This led O'Reilly to attack Grace for her extensive coverage, which has been easy for everyone to criticize. Yet the Factor host is hardly the most ideal pundit to lead the charge, since he undercut his point about the coverage by not shutting up about Anthony. In fact, his outrage over the verdict was just as loud as Grace's was, especially since he had someone to argue with in Rivera.

The media also showed how divided they were in reporting verdict; the likes of Grace and O'Reilly ranted over it, while Rivera argued that it was technically the right call. For all of the judgment against Anthony in the press, the prosecution did a much poorer job of convicting her than pundits did, and the jury's ruling is all that mattered in the end.

The press at large is trying to have it both ways after the Anthony verdict, as half continue to protest it, while others defend the jury's ruling and complain about how their peers rushed to judgment. O'Reilly tried to have it both ways himself, until it became obvious which way he preferred, which proved to be very symbolic.

But the Anthony case is bound to fade out of the news cycle before long. Once that happens, the likes of O'Reilly and Grace will find new causes to rant about in some fashion.

Sources

Entertainment Weekly- "TV news goes bonkers over Casey Anthony verdict"