Reporter fired by Comcast for saying true things about Bill O'Reilly
He was an anchor and reporter on the Comcast channel, for those who have Comcast cable.
Not anymore, however. He was fired for criticizing the selection of Bill O'Reilly for the Governors Award at the Emmys.
According to Nolan, I quietly passed out a document that contained – not my opinion – but O’Reilly’s own words and quotes from his sexual harassment lawsuit. And that is what got me fired. I got fired from my job on a news and information network for reporting demonstrably true things in a room full of news people
As dismaying as this sounds, Nolan's speculations on the limits of free speech in modern America are far more forboding because they ring so true:
And it all got me to thinking about the myth of free speech. In today’s America, speech is only “free” when you are talking down to someone less powerful that you. Speak “up” – and look out.
In your work life, they can fire you, as I found out, for quietly saying something that is widely known to be true. Put a lid on it.
And in our role as citizens, we have been told by O’Reilly to shut up, or Fox Security may pay you a visit. We are called traitors if we simply speak the truth about the absence of WMD’s – the way the war is going – the disgraces of Abu Ghraib, of Gitmo, of waterboarding. Shut up.
So, when exactly do they think we have the right to speak up? To speak the quiet simple truth, to people who have more power than us?
Does this sound about right to you folks? Because it does to me. It has become more and more apparent that certain things simply can't be said anymore.
You may argue that this has always been true in America, but I grew up during the late 60s and early 70s when Vietnam protestors were on the news, when feminists were on talk shows, when All in the Family aired every Sunday night.
Not being able to say controversial things is not the America I thought I knew.
Comments