Liberal Media What?

O’Reilly Flips On Analyst He Once Called ‘A Truth-Teller’ After His Study Found Media Bias Against Obama

In 2006, after the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) released a study showing that Democrats got more favorable coverage than Republicans, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly hailed the organization’s president, Dr. Robert Lichter, as “a truth-teller.” On his Fox News show, O’Reilly praised Lichter’s findings as definitive proof “that the media leans left” because “the stats are the stats.” [Fox News, 10/31/06]

But now that the CMPA has released a new study — using the same methodology — that found that ABC, NBC, and CBS have been tougher on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) than Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) recently, O’Reilly has changed his tune about the validity of Lichter’s research.

In an Monday interview with Lichter on his radio show, O’Reilly called the new study “misleading” and “an enormous mistake” by Lichter. Lichter replied by telling O’Reilly, “you can take all my studies or none of my studies.”