Bill O’Reilly
The O’Reilly Factor / Fox News
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Dear Mr. O’Reilly:

I am writing to you on behalf of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists concerning your recent attacks on the integrity of Dallas Morning News editorial writer Macarena Hernandez. You called her a “liar” and a “dishonest woman,” and you referred to her article as “a matter of deceit.”

Strong words. Let’s examine “deceit” for a second. On your October 18 broadcast of The O’Reilly Factor, you quoted Ms. Hernandez’s article as saying:

“Were the complainers angrier about the red, white and green Mexican flag fluttering in the Georgia air than they were about the horrific murders? Do they watch Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, where the anchor and the callers constantly point to the southern border as the birth of all America's ills? ... It is one thing to want to secure the borders and another to preach hate ... Taken literally, such rhetoric gives criminals like those in southern Georgia license to kill.”

Sometimes, Mr. O’Reilly, deleting words using an ellipsis doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence, and sometimes it does. In this case, let’s look at what Ms. Hernandez actually wrote:

Were the complainers angrier about the red, white and green Mexican flag fluttering in the Georgia air than they were about the horrific murders? Do they watch Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, where the anchor and the callers constantly point to the southern border as the birth of all America's ills? (Sample comment: “Each one of those people is a biological weapon.”)

It is one thing to want to secure the borders and another to preach hate, to talk of human beings as ailments. Taken literally, such rhetoric gives criminals like those in southern Georgia license to kill…

It seems to me, and to any fair reader, that speaking of human beings as biological weapons is rather inflammatory, don’t you think? Your decision to leave these words out of your selective quotes changes the meaning of her column. Robbing her of the example she cited makes it sound as if she’s making things up, rather than actually quoting your show. Yes, we concede that The O’Reilly Factor does not take callers. The comment was made by a caller on your radio show, on April 15, 2005. That was a mistake, Mr. O’Reilly, not a lie. The way you have presented this controversy to your viewing audience, now that’s deceptive and unfair. Your subsequent call for canceling subscriptions and reconsidering advertising in the Dallas Morning News is petty, vindictive, and surprisingly thin-skinned.

Macarena Hernandez is a journalist of renowned integrity. You owe her an apology. She has a right to her opinion, just as you have a right to yours. She correctly notes in her column that an increasing number of Americans are disturbed by continued illegal immigration in this country. Here’s a part of the column that you didn’t quote (because it wasn’t about you):

In Dallas, attacks against immigrants are one reason individual robberies have gone up in the last five years. Authorities call undocumented immigrants "ready-made victims." Without proper documentation to open bank accounts, many resort to stashing their sweat-soaked earnings under mattresses, in kitchen cabinets, in their socks or boots. If they are robbed, many don't call police for fear of deportation or because, back home, cops aren't trusted, anyway.

You say you care about Mexicans who are in this country illegally. “Good people,” you called them. Well, she wrote about them, Mr. O’Reilly. This article was about their plight, about justice for them. And it was about a media culture that underreports crimes against them, about a public that cares less and less about them, and about certain callers to your (let me get this right) radio show who see them as instruments of biological warfare, not as people.

If you really care about Mexicans, including those who aren’t here legally, then put the focus back on them instead of using your influence to attack someone who has the courage to stand up to your caller’s hateful remark, even if you didn’t.

Sincerely,

Veronica Villafañe
President
National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Rafael Olmeda
Vice President, Print
National Association of Hispanic Journalists