Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly is taking on WAVY, the NBC-affiliate in Norfolk.

At issue is the local coverage of an attack on Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami, two reporters at the Virginian-Pilot. The pair were attacked by a mob on April 14 while they were on their way home from a movie.

“The O’Reilly Factor” has been covering the attack for several weeks, saying it “may be racially motivated.” Police in Norfolk have disputed the claim. On Tuesday night, WAVY reported on O’Reilly’s coverage of the attack, saying the Fox News host is “shining a negative spotlight on the city.” Read more

“Bottom line: it was not a great experience… and he moved on,” said host Dennis House during a segment on WFSB‘s “Face the State” this past Sunday, profiling Bill O’Reilly‘s short stint as an anchor and reporter with the Hartford CBS-affiliate.

House dug up some vintage footage of O’Reilly from his time at WFSB, from 1979 to 1980. While his tenure in Hartford was short, O’Reilly got to report on several big news stories of the time, including the visit of Pope John Paul II to New York and the 1980 presidential primary.

“At least from the archives, it appears O’Reilly never phoned it in,” House said, even when he had to cover, for instance, the hysteria surrounding then-teen idol Rex Smith. (Watch the full segment HERE). Read more

Susan Roesgen, who was let go by CNN following comments she made on-air while covering a Tea Party event in Chicago, has landed at New Orleans’ WGNO.

In April 2009, Roesgen, then a correspondent for CNN, described the Tea Party event as “anti-government, anti-CNN since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox.”  The video bounced around the internet, drawing the ire of Shepard Smith, Bill O’Reilly, and others.

Now Roesgen is set to co-anchor a new 6 p.m. program that the ABC-affiliate is calling “News with a Twist.”  The unconventional show will feature Roesgen and  LeBron “LBJ” Joseph, the morning drive-time DJ at New Orleans’ KMEZ-FM, going over the day’s stories in a newly constructed set that evokes a barroom.

The type of on-air commentary that got Roesgen in trouble at CNN will seemingly be encouraged at WGNO, where news director Rick Erbach says the mantra of the new show is “It’s not a newscast.” Read more