Jesse Watters

High Schoolers Scorch Bill O’Reilly/Fox News For Lack Of Journalistic Ethics

Posted by on January 22, 2015 at 7:50 pm. 75 Comments :

[Update 2/2/2015: Fox News has responded to the students’ video]

Fox News has been proven repeatedly to be a purveyor of disinformation and outright lies presented as facts. Knowledgeable observers long ago ceased to take their reporting seriously. However, it’s one thing to be called out for shoddy journalism by experienced media analysts and news professionals. But when a high school class can demolish the highest rated cable “news” network with ease, the folks responsible should reconsider their career choices.

Fox News

Last July O’Reilly sent his stalker/producer Jesse Watters to Bennington, Vermont in order to malign the residents of the city and the state as liberal, pot smoking, ski bums. It was a purely vicious exercise in childish insults that had no news value of any kind. But it is the sort of mean-spirited filler that Watters has made his specialty. Watters is also the founder and editor of Fox’s community website, Fox Nation, mangling the truth is the primary objective. [Note: don’t miss this epic and hilarious take down of Watters by Stephen Colbert]

The students at Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington happened to be studying journalism when they came upon this piece. So they used it as a case study to conduct a “professional integrity audit” based on the ethics codes of the Society of Professional Journalists. What they discovered was that O’Reilly’s program violated the ethics codes so many times they lost count.

The video produced by the students systematically took apart the Watters segment revealing O’Reilly, Watters, and Fox News to be blatant propagandists with no regard for journalistic integrity. In one short segment they found examples of stereotyping, distortions, manipulation, questionable sourcing, and predetermining outcome.

The students presentation was not what you would call polished. But, hey, they are high school students. They have plenty of time to sharpen their camera skills. The main thing is that the construction of their reporting and their adherence to high standards still makes them more watchable than the arrogant, blow-dried, FoxBots who stare down their noses at decent folks in small Vermont towns.

The video closes with the students articulating their conclusions based on a thorough analysis of the O’Reilly segment as it holds up to ethical scrutiny. The verdict was not something that a reputable journalist would relish:

“Based on our studies about the field of journalism, we have determined that you’re not practicing journalism. You’re practicing rank propaganda.” […]

“By watching Fox News, we have learned buckets about journalism – what to do and, more importantly, what never to do. It is our hope that Fox News can learn the very same from watching us.”

You have to admire their youthful optimism. It is unlikely that Fox will ever acknowledge the complete lack of ethics in their reporting. That’s mainly because they don’t regard it as a flaw. It is deliberate and in keeping with their mission to advance a partisan political agenda, even when it is merely ridiculing innocent victims of their juvenile pranks.

News Corpse Presents: The ALL NEW 2nd volume of
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Addendum: After reading some of the comments below, it is clear that right-wing trolls have descended on this article to attack young people for speaking their mind. What’s sad is that the conservative critics can’t even form coherent arguments to rebut the students on substance. They rely on insults and rhetorical misdirection.

Bill O’Reilly Flunky Gets Booted From Mayor De Blasio’s Press Conference

Posted by on December 11, 2014 at 5:31 pm. 6 Comments :

The media hoax that is Fox News continues to embarrass itself with pathetic stunts aimed at glorifying their egomaniacal propaganda peddlers while debasing the practice of journalism. The latest example of this adventure in tabloid trivialities occurred today during a press conference held by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Fox News Jesse Watters

In the middle of the event Jesse Watters pops up and pretends that he has an actual question to ask. For those who don’t know him, Watters is a producer on The O’Reilly Factor and a practitioner of ambush journalism. He is also the “brains” behind the lie-riddled Fox Nation website. After being recognized by de Blasio, Watters demonstrated why is regarded as such an imbecile as he turned the press conference into a bitchfest with his whining about de Blasio’s refusal to grant O’Reilly an interview.

Watters: Mr. Mayor, Bill O’Reilly has a question for you.
de Blasio: OK. Are you his emissary?
Watters: You don’t know Watters’ World?
de Blasio: Again please.
Watters: I’m Watters, this is my world right here, OK?”
de Blasio: OK. Continue.
Watters: We’ve been trying to book you on the show for weeks, and your staff hasn’t been very respectful towards us we’re just trying to…
de Blasio: I’m sure they’re very respectful.
Watters: Actually not.
de Blasio: I’m sure they are.
Watters: We’re just trying to get to know you better, what’s the problem?
de Blasio: I appreciate the invitation, and my staff will follow up with you.
Watters: But they haven’t been following up, and that’s why I’m here.
de Blasio: I’m glad you’re here. Let’s take some serious questions. Go ahead, Henry.
Watters: We’re fascinated by this de Blasio mystique. Can you help us out mayor? […] You haven’t responded.
de Blasio: Henry.
Watters: Will you do the show?
de Blasio: Henry. Just start talking Henry.

Shortly thereafter, Watters was escorted out of the press conference by security. And as it turns out, de Blasio’s office had previously responded to O’Reilly’s request with a rather gracious denial. His staff later tweeted evidence of it. But that isn’t even what makes this so stupid. A press conference is not the place to badger a public official about appearing on a cable news program. It is exceedingly rude and unprofessional to take the time of a busy mayor, and all of the legitimate reporters, just to try and book a guest on a program hosted by an angry and adversarial loudmouth who the mayor has no interest in accommodating.

But Watters isn’t concerned with professional behavior. He has never bothered to exhibit it in the past. His childish pranks have earned him the ridicule of his peers, and of Stephen Colbert who featured him in a hilarious segment earlier this year. And for more documented examples of Watters’ sleazy escapades in pseudo-journalism…

Get the ALL NEW 2nd volume of
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: Was Benghazi A Koch Brothers Plot?

Posted by on May 4, 2014 at 3:42 pm. 2 Comments :

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has taken a courageous stand of late against the democracy-defiling Koch brothers. He has correctly assailed them for bankrolling dishonest campaigns and offensive Tea Party front groups. However, he has never said what Fox Nation is now reporting that he said:

Fox Nation

For more shameless lying by Fox & Co….
Get Fox Nation vs. Reality. Available now at Amazon.

No, Harry Reid didn’t say that “Benghazi Is A Koch Brothers Plot.” He didn’t imply it or suggest it or even vaguely allude to it. The quote that Fox Nation cited from an article in the Washington Examiner addressed the announcement by GOP House Speaker John Boehner that he intends to form a special committee to conduct even more fruitless investigations of the trumped up Benghazi scandal. Apparently the four committees that have been beating this dead horse for nearly two years were not sufficient (or competent) to complete the job. However, Reid’s response to this waste of time and taxpayer money was crystal clear and unambiguous. He said that…

“Republicans are showing yet again that they have nothing to offer the middle class. Republicans care more about defending billionaires like the Koch brothers and trying to rekindle debunked right-wing conspiracy theories than raising the minimum wage or ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work.”

Anyone with elementary level comprehension skills understands that Reid was listing – not connecting – the Koch brothers and debunked right-wing conspiracy theories. That’s why he used the word “and” to differentiate between the two. If he were connecting them he would have said “like the Koch brothers who are trying to rekindle…”

It’s clear that Jesse Watters, the editor of the Fox Nation website (whom Stephen Colbert just royally skewered), has way too much time on his hands. If he is reduced to deliberately mischaracterizing simple English in order to smear his enemies, he obviously doesn’t have anything of importance to work on. That’s the tale of all of the Fox News-invented scandals. Since they haven’t got anything of substance with which to tar the President, they just make stuff up and hope their dimwitted audience swallows it. And that’s something they can rest assured will occur.

Stephen Colbert Nails Fox Nation’s Resident Imbecile Jesse Watters (Video)

Posted by on May 2, 2014 at 12:04 pm. 4 Comments :

Finally. Media analysts and satirists have chronicled the brazenly partisan and shamelessly deceitful pseudo-news enterprise, known erroneously as Fox “News,” for several years. The disinformation and deliberate lies propagated by disreputable characters like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Steve Doocy, Megyn Kelly, etc., has all been subjected to appropriate scrutiny and ridicule. But one of Fox’s most embarrassing figures has managed to escape the criticism he so richly deserves.

Stephen Colbert Watters World

Be Sure To “LIKE” News Corpse On Facebook

Jesse Watters is a producer on the O’Reilly Factor. He is regularly featured in segments that are intended to be humorous, but rarely achieve that goal for anyone whose sense of humor has evolved beyond kindergarten (in other words, Fox News viewers will love it). The “Watters’ World” bits generally show Watters interviewing “average” people – you know, the “folks” that Bill O’Reilly always claims to be watching out for. Except for when he dispatches his goons to produce heavily edited segments that only show responses from people that fail to give correct answers. That’s because the purpose of the interviews is to make them look like idiots.

It is also worth noting that Watters is the editor of the Fox News community website, Fox Nation. That fact is rarely disclosed publicly and is not credited anywhere on the website. But given the juvenile tone it sets, the horrifyingly violent and racist comments it draws, and the repeatedly false stories it promotes, Watters may have good reason to want to hide his involvement. [For a collection of more than 50 documented examples of blatant lies published by Fox Nation, get the ebook “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.” Available at Amazon]

Now Stephen Colbert has turned his biting incite toward Watters in a hilarious segment that demonstrates the dishonesty inherent to what Watters does. Colbert rehabilitates the people that Watters attempts to demean, exposes the cheap tactics that Watters exploits, and does it all with comedic brilliance. Here is the episode for your viewing pleasure:

Five Years Old And Acting Like It: Happy Birthday, Fox Nation

Posted by on April 8, 2014 at 3:03 pm. NO Comments :

The Fox News community website, Fox Nation, is celebrating their fifth birthday. That’s five years of lies and propaganda in their signature juvenile style.

Fox Nation

Click here to see this ebook on Amazon.

Like the Tea Party, Fox Nation is turning five and behaving very much like any other five year old. They whine when they don’t get their way. They throw tantrums if they are denied. They invent their own reality and dismiss facts that don’t validate their delusional world view. They exaggerate their victories and insult their perceived enemies. It’s a truly pathetic display of childish egoism.

However, this day of celebration is the perfect time get yourself a copy of the acclaimed ebook “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Community’s Assault On Truth.” This book is a compilation of more than fifty documented examples of outright lies published on Fox Nation. As the introduction says…

“These are not mere differences of opinion or discussions that might have varying degrees of perspective. They are obvious, provable, out and out lies. They are manifestations of a disconnect with the real world. But they are not the result of psychosis or mistake. They are deliberate and purposeful. They are aimed at an ill-informed audience that is only interested in having their prejudices affirmed. And Fox News is only too happy to accommodate them.”

As an example from the book of one of the blatant departures from reality employed by Fox, take a look at this article where Fox Nation published an item with the headline “Obama More Unpopular Than Tea Party.” However, the New York Times poll cited in the article actually reported Obama’s favorability at 48% and the Tea Party at 20% – a complete reversal of the declaration in the headline.

That’s typical of the way Fox Nation distorts the real world for the benefit of readers who prefer fantasy. And now Fox Nation is bragging about how they have been providing these tales for half a decade. So let’s wish them a happy birthday, but continue to keep an eye on their falsifications and deception as they endeavor to defend the wealthy individuals and corporations they were created to support.

[Update] Joining Fox Nation’s birthday celebration is Breitbart News who interviewed the website’s editor, Jesse Watters (who is rarely identified as the editor in public). Watters revealed that “Matt Drudge and Andrew Breitbart were inspirations” for the site, removing all doubt that it was designed as a right-wing propaganda outlet from its inception. Watters also admits that he is unconcerned with truth-telling:

“If there were any stories his Fox Nation promoted that turned out to be less than factual, Watters won’t dwell on such things. ‘Everyone has regrets about things that are posted. You learn from mistakes and move on,’ he said.”

Of course, what Watters means by “learning” is not taking care to be more truthful, but taking care to avoid getting caught when lying. He also expressed his pride in the site’s followers whom he described as “vibrant, engaged and fiercely loyal.” He left out fiercely racist – like this, or this, or this.

Bill O’Reilly And Jesse Watters Lie About Van Jones

Posted by on May 2, 2012 at 2:23 am. 8 Comments :

Bill O'ReillyLast week Bill O’Reilly interviewed his Fox News colleague Jesse Watters about a video Watters had produced wherein he ambushed Van Jones at a green energy convention. The video itself was a frivolous exercise that succeeded mainly in demonstrating how easy it was for Jones to make Watters look foolish.

More interesting was a part of the exchange between O’Reilly and Watters that included a wholly unfounded attribution by Watters that even O’Reilly found unbelievable:

Watters: He [Van Jones] actually said that the EPA has saved more lives than the department of defense and that Republicans want to poison children.
O’Reilly: Jones said that Republicans want to poison children?
Watters: Yes, he did.
O’Reilly: Was there any reason that the GOP wants to commit homicide?
Watters: Jobs. Poisoning children creates jobs.
O’Reilly: Now wait a minute. This guy was working in the Obama administration. He actually said that the GOP wants to poison children?
Watters: We have it on tape.
O’Reilly: Alright. I want to see that tape on Reality Check on Monday.
Watters: OK.

Well, Monday came and went and there was no video. O’Reilly broadcast his Reality Check segment on Tuesday and there was no video. It should come as no surprise that O’Reilly failed to air the video and didn’t even bother to address the fact that he was breaking his promise to do so. The reason for that is simple: There is no video of Jones saying what Watters alleged he said.

The truth is that Jones never said that Republicans “want to poison children.” He responded to accusations that the EPA kills jobs by noting that the EPA actually saves tens of thousands of lives every year by controlling toxic emissions and pollution. Jones suggested that critics be asked “How many American children are you willing to poison per job?” It was a speculative question meant to stimulate discussion about the relative merits of environmental regulation, not an indictment of the GOP as wannabe children poisoners.

This is yet another example of Fox News making irresponsible and dishonest allegations and failing to back them up with evidence. These phony “journalists” have no problem shamelessly making false statements publicly and then simply letting the whole matter drop and hoping their glassy-eyed audience forgets the part where they promised to provide proof. And judging from the non-reaction from the Fox audience, forgetting is something they do willingly.

Bill O’Reilly Gets Occupied – Brandishes A Lethal Umbrella

Posted by on December 8, 2011 at 7:58 pm. 7 Comments :

The senior eminence of Fox News, Bill O’Reilly, demonstrated yesterday just how tender his thin skin is. O’Reilly was surprised by a chance encounter with a “fan” who wondered whether he was attending a fundraiser for Newt Gingrich (he wasn’t). But the encounter got a little out of hand when O’Reilly’s inner bully emerged.

The funny thing about this episode wherein O’Reilly physically assaults someone who did nothing more than ask him a question, is that this is a tactic that O’Reilly has championed for years. It was O’Reilly’s own producer, Stuttering Jesse Watters, who was so often dispatched by O’Reilly to ambush unsuspecting folks in an attempt to embarrass or harass them. When criticized for this cheesy debasement of journalism, O’Reilly steadfastly defends it as rooted in the proud historic tradition of Mike Wallace and 60 Minutes (it’s not).

However, subjected to the same sort of reporting that he favors, O’Reilly proves that he can dish it out but he can’t take it without lashing out and whining to a nearby law enforcement officer. And as the video shows, the only person who engaged in potentially unlawful violence was O’Reilly himself. He deployed his umbrella with such force that he broke it.

On his Fox “Spin Zone” program tonight, O’Reilly sought to portray the curious citizen as a threat who was “armed” with a cell phone camera. O’Reilly said that the man was “running at [him] in the dark, screaming.” Of course the video tells an entirely different story. And for some reason O’Reilly didn’t bother to play the video. I wonder why.

O’Reilly followed his self-serving defense with a discussion of the event with a former police detective. The two of them brazenly misrepresented the video that they refused to play. Clearly they didn’t want the audience to know what they were talking about. And, of course, his guest absolved O’Reilly of any wrongdoing.

At one point O’Reilly conceded that he and his minions have used the same tactic to get interviews, but he lied by asserting that if a subject asked them to leave they would do so. Here’s some pretty conclusive evidence that that was not the case:

So what we’ve learned from this is that O’Reilly is a liar, a bully and, like most bullies, a coward. It’s too bad the fellow who suffered the wrath of O’Reilly’s umbrella doesn’t have his own TV show to set the record straight. However, if any of O’Reilly’s friends watched the video, they now know what to get him for Christmas.

Fox News Producer Won’t Deny That Fox Makes Things Up

Posted by on February 13, 2011 at 10:20 am. 11 Comments :

This is classic:

Last week Media Matters published an interview with a former Fox News “insider” who revealed, among other things, that Fox News is a “propaganda outfit” that “makes things up.” So ThinkProgress sent Ben Armbruster to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) where he ran into O’Reilly Factor producer and “ambush” interviewer, Stuttering Jesse Watters. The result is this video that shows Watters completely unresponsive in his smarmy effort to evade a simple question: Do you think that Fox News just makes stuff up?

Watters weaved and dodged without even approaching a coherent response. Rather, he attempts to school Armbruster on the finer points of ambushing. But what’s truly hilarious is that Watters can’t even muster a denial that Fox News makes things up. That’s about as close to an admission as we’re likely to get.

Equally funny is the spin that Fox Nation puts on this event:

Yesterday at CPAC in Washington DC, a liberal blogger from a Soros-funded smear site attempted to “ambush” Fox News’ Jesse Watters, who was covering the conservative conference for FoxNation.com and whose “ambush” interviews are frequently featured on The O’Reilly Factor. It was an embarrassing disaster for the little left-wing blogger. We’re surprised he posted the video because it was such a failure, but thrilled he did. Watters, who’s been “ambushing” judges, politicians and journalists for years, playfully mocked the “ambush attempt” while it went down, critiqued it “you can’t ambush with a camera phone”) and breezed away smiling.

The Fox Nationalists are actually proud of Watters performance, calling it “an embarrassing disaster for the little left-wing blogger.” That approaches a new level of oblivious for the Murdoch-funded smear site. How can they view this as a victory when their hero is seen in full retreat, ultimately ducking into an elevator to escape? And he couldn’t even defend the accusation that Fox manufactures lies and presents them as news? All he had to say was “No.” Perhaps he has a little integrity after all and couldn’t bring himself to deny the truth?

Nah, he’s just a douchebag.

Jesse Watters Crashes GE Shareholders Meeting

Posted by on April 23, 2009 at 12:50 pm. 16 Comments :

The reigning weasel of news hackery, Stuttering Jesse Watters, is striving mightily to surpass his personal worst. At the GE shareholders meeting, Watters, who did not identify himself as Bill O’Reilly’s attack troll, or even as an employee of Fox News, commandeered the microphone and began lobbing antagonistic questions at GE brass.

Paul Bond’s column in the Hollywood Reporter reports that Watters asked GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt about Janeane Garofalo’s recent appearance on Countdown. There were reportedly several other “shareholders” who rose to ask questions regarding MSNBC’s alleged editorial slant to the left.

It seems somewhat suspicious that a spontaneous collection of objectivity-conscious investors would arise to complain about one of GE’s most successful assets – and one whose success can be directly tied to the work of Countdown’s Keith Olbermann. Would these shareholders prefer that the network had not increased its audience and revenue by record margins over the past couple of years? One complaint focused on Olbermann’s failure to challenge Garofalo’s remarks. Bond then recounts that…

“Immelt told the assembled he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company’s news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni more effectively.”

That’s a rather curious complaint. Would they prefer that Immelt intervene in the editorial decisions made by NBC’s news production teams? Were he to do so, they would probably complain that he doesn’t permit the journalists to do their jobs impartially. On the other hand, they may indeed have a preference for corporate executives who dictate the editorial content for their networks. Witness their affection for Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes, who run a tightly partisan operation at Fox News.

Needless to say, this affair will likely end up on the O’Reilly Factor soon, and O’Reilly will use it in yet another attempt to bash GE (his proxy for Olbermann) and assert that Immelt should be fired for his poor performance. As usual he won’t acknowledge that both News Corp and GE’s stocks have declined about 60% in the past year. And he won’t call for Rupert Murdoch’s resignation either.

Update: As I predicted, O’Reilly spent the first ten minutes of his show tonight on Watters’ adventure in Orlando. Most of it was the typical tripe O’Reilly is famous for, but there was one moment in his Talking Points that was priceless:

“This is obviously a major story. When a powerful corporation which controls a major part of the American media may be using its power and the airwaves to influence politics in order to make money from government contracts.”

He is talking about Fox News, isn’t he?

Bill O’Reilly’s Attack Puppy Jesse Watters Strikes Again

Posted by on March 23, 2009 at 4:43 pm. 3 Comments :

Whenever Bill O’Reilly has some dirty work to do that doesn’t involve a loofah, he sends his trusty minion, Stuttering Jesse Watters. In the field, Watters pretends he is the progeny of Mike Wallace (whose real progeny, Chris, is also a Fox News toady). Watters plots elaborate ambush “interviews” with people who wouldn’t otherwise get within spitting distance of him, or O’Reilly either for that matter.

This past weekend, Amanda Terkel of ThinkProgress was literally stalked by Watters while she was on vacation.

Terkel: Watters and his camera man accosted me at approximately 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, in Winchester, VA, which is a two-hour drive from Washington, DC. My friend and I were in this small town for a short weekend vacation and had told no one about where we were going. I can only infer that the two men staked out my apartment and then followed me for two hours.

This harassment was orchestrated by O’Reilly as payback for Terkel’s reporting on O’Reilly’s appearance before the Alexa Foundation, a rape victims support group. It was a personal assault that had no news value, just the desire to harm someone he believed to be an enemy. The action taken against Terkel violated even O’Reilly’s criteria for ambushing:

O’Reilly: [W]e do not go after people lightly. We always ask them on the program first, or to issue a clear statement explaining their actions.

However, Terkel was never contacted for either a statement or an invitation to appear on the Factor. This is typical O’Reilly behavior. Remember, this is the same guy who pushed an Obama aide and threatened him not to “block the shot.” He is a textbook bully, as well as a paranoid narcissist. Dispatching so-called “producers” to harass people you don’t like is closer to organized crime than to journalism. Perhaps O’Reilly and Watters could be prosecuted under the RICO statutes.

Update: O’Reilly’s segment with the Watters ambush just aired and it was a stunning piece of sensationalistic, libelous, garbage. The encounter with Terkel, whom O’Reilly branded a villain, was edited so as to paint a thoroughly dishonest picture of her, while permitting Watters to spew a running commentary of vile character assassination. Then O’Reilly took a cognitive leap to turn his fire on Jeff Zucker, CEO of NBC, without explaining what he had to do with any of this. Clearly, O’Reilly just wants to take every opportunity to bash NBC as a proxy for his nemesis, Keith Olbermann, who also had nothing to do with this.

Also notable in the segment was O’Reilly’s description of the rape trial for the perpetrator of the crime committed against Alexa Branchini, for whom the Alexa Foundation was created. O’Reilly said that the defense put on a case intended to “prove the rape was consensual.” That is, to say the least, a curious phrasing. He did not refer to whether the “sex” was consensual. It appears that O’Reilly thinks that sometimes a rape victim may have consented to being raped, or was otherwise responsible. And that is precisely what Terkel noted in the article that started all of this – that O’Reilly was an inappropriate speaker to a rape victims organization because of his previous insensitivity for implying that some victims are responsible for bringing about their own assault. Somebody needs to tell O’Reilly that rape is NEVER consensual.