ACLU goes after company that fired Barry Nolan

We don't think former tabloid television host Barry Nolan should have been fired for his campaign against a Boston Emmy honor for Bill O'Reilly-- even if he did veer off from his mission to attack us, our readers and our editor (we were happy to spar with Barry online, but we changed our tune when he got the axe). And neither does the American Civil Liberties Union, whose Boston chapter is going on the attack against Comcast, the cable company that fired Barry from his gig hosting a cable TV show.

Here's the article from the Boston Herald:

ACLU hits Comcast on Barry Nolan axing

Says cable company’s move suggests it neither
values nor understands independent journalism

By Jessica Heslam

Calling the firing “disturbing,” the local American Civil Liberties Union is blasting Comcast for canning TV host Barry Nolan over his Bill O’Reilly protest.

Nolan, a host on Comcast’s CN8 for five years, was axed last week for speaking out against the local Emmy Awards for giving the Fox News host the Governor’s Award – its highest honor.

In a statement sent to MediaBiz yesterday, the ACLU said Comcast has hurt its reputation. O’Reilly has declined comment.

“Comcast’s decision to terminate Mr. Nolan is most unfortunate, as it suggests that independent journalism is not valued or perhaps even understood at Comcast,” wrote Jim Wolken, senior director of communications for the ACLU of Massachusetts.

“Bill O’Reilly’s struggles with fact-based journalism have been well documented by numerous independent sources, making Mr. Nolan’s firing all the more disturbing,” wrote Wolken, who didn’t cite the sources. “Barry Nolan’s value to the public is that his credentials as a reporter cannot be bought or intimidated. By firing him, Comcast injures its own reputation as a reliable source for news.”

Wolken added: “Barry Nolan has been a respected journalist in the Commonwealth with a well-earned reputation for fair and intelligent reporting on a wide range of complex issues.”

During the May 10 awards, Nolan passed out fliers with quotes from O’Reilly and the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him.

Before firing Nolan, Comcast suspended him for two weeks without pay.

Nolan has since written a piece defending his O’Reilly protest that was posted this week on ThinkProgress.org, which the Huffington Post (editor's note: and Tabloid Baby) picked up.

As for the ACLU’s support, Nolan said: “I was very touched by that.”

Diane Dimond stands up for Barry Nolan

Former tabloid television host Barry Nolan's response on the leftist Think Progress website has finally drawn the national support he could have used for his anti-Bill O'Reilly campaign that got him fired from his cable TV gig. Among the scores of sympathetic commenters to his essay is Diane Dimond, the former tabloid television reporter whose TV career effectively ended after her much-criticized, overzealous prosecutorial coverage (and collusion with the prosecutor) in the Michael Jackson molestation case was followed by Jackson's acquittal and her exit from Court TV.

Her Think Progress comments also seem to reflect thoughts about her own situation that have never been expressed publicly:

Diane Dimond says:

Barry Nolan and I worked together for many years and I count him as a dear friend, I wish him all the best in the future.

After having spoken the plain truth he is rewarded by a cowardly employer with walking papers. And the saddest truth is by speaking the truth, by exercising his constitutional right to say what he thinks off the job, Barry likely ended his broadcasting career. I hope I’m wrong because Barry is one of the smartest people in the TV business. But as a veteran of the industry I can tell you the ‘little guy’ is never rewarded for pointing out the failures of ‘the big guy.’

Its a shame what’s happened to tv journalism. Barry’s right, its been replaced by yelling and bullying and personal opinion and invective.

I repeat, its a shame. But Barry and others who walk away from in it disgust are to be applauded.

Love ya’ Barry.

Diane Dimond

Barry Nolan writes about his firing o'er O'Reilly

It's a bit too late to control the spin that spun him onto the unemployment line, but former tabloid television host Barry Nolan is in friendly territory as he has his say about being fired from his hosting gig with Comcast's New England cable system for protesting a local Emmy honor for his former rival Bill O'Reilly. Had Barry also launched his protest on the lefty, liberal Think Progress site rather than the gossip page of the blue collar Boston Herald, Barry might have marched into the Emmy ceremony with his leaflets of smarmy allegations in hand and an army of protesters at his back. Instead, he was derided as an elitist moonbat and bounced.

Barry's essay is a little over the top, what with its mentions of waterboarding and "Fox Security" coming over to visit and such, but hey, we'll cut him some lack because even though he did the same shouting he editorializes against, he did put his job where his mouth was and paid the price.

Here's his piece on the Think Progress site:

Barry Nolan: The Story Behind My O’Reilly Protest

Our guest blogger is Barry Nolan, a veteran TV journalist who was recently fired by Comcast Cable’s CN8 channel in Boston for protesting an award honoring Bill O’Reilly.

So, I’m that TV guy who got fired by Comcast over Bill O’Reilly. I protested the fact that O’Reilly was chosen to receive the Governors Award at this year’s Emmy Awards ceremony. That’s the highest honor that they hand out. The important word here is: honor.

Now granted – you won’t find a lot of Albert Schweitzers or Mother Teresas working in television, but at least the people who had been honored in the past had pretty much followed the part of the Hippocratic oath that says, “First, do no harm.”

O’Reilly was an appalling choice, not because of his political views, but because he simply gets the facts wrong, abuses his guests and the powerless in general, is delusional, and, well, you might want to Google: Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Plus there was that whole sexual harassment thing – the lawsuit he settled for an estimated $10 million. Not the kind of guy you normally think of when it comes time to pass out honors.

I found that most of my colleagues felt the same way. So, on May 10th at the Emmy Awards dinner, 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.

Normally, in the great scheme of things – this should be a total non-story. “Overpaid White Guy Gets Fired from Cushy Job for Shooting Mouth Off.” Yawn. But these are not normal times. After the word got out that I was fired – I started hearing from people from all over the country who were outraged. A guy in Texas who had once worked with O’Reilly and had seen a meltdown like the one on Youtube – a weather anchor in Arizona – a woman in China no less.

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?

Well, I think now would be a good time. The fog of fear is lifting. The balance of power is shifting. People are beginning to talk to each other again instead of shouting. I think it’s time to reclaim the right to free speech – even if it comes at a price.

Meanwhile, if anyone needs any lawn work done or his or her car detailed – give me a call.

Nice closing line. As you'd expect, the comments on this liberal site were far more sympathetic than the Boston locals-- as a matter of fact, practically unanimously sympathetic and supportive. And it might even lead to a new TV job.

Did Olbermann throw a gunshot gag into his "special comment" about Hillary's RFK gaffe?

That Keith Olbermann really cracks us up. (But now, Sir, you may have gone too far! Too far, Sir, I say!) We spun by his show about a week or so ago and were agog as he spent more than ten minutes reading this overheated, outdatedly formally-written screed against George Bush, all “Have you no shame, Sir,” and “Mr. President, sir, have you no decency?” in a way that nobody speaks nowadays or ever, getting all fired up and sputtering, but knowing to turn to a different camera every few lines. But long before he actually signed off with a  “Good night and good luck” that pays more homage to George Clooney's show biz liberalism than the old show biz hack Olbie thinks he's emulating— about eight minutes in or so, we realized it was all shtik, all comedy— why else would NBC let Bill O'Reilly's comic foil get away with such over-the-top craziness? The guy’s a bonafide mental case and they let him act it out on air!

We emailed a pal over at MSNBC and he told us they love it over there, because the wilder he gets, the more the ratings spike. That explains that--

But on Friday, Mr. TV Personality, Sir, how could you stoop so low? During your “Special Comment” aimed at Hillary Clinton and her reference to RFK’s assassination, did you really throw in a phony gunshot near the top of your blatherings? Did you, Sir? Did you really? As you railed against Hillary’s new low at bringing the terrible spectre of murder into the campaign, did you actually have someone set off a party popper to increase the drama? Was it a prankster on the set? Or will you blame a busted lightbulb? You don’t do that routine live, do you? Do you Sir? Ha!

(Watch: "And claiming there are people who would do anything to stop you-- you! " POP!)

Little sympathy for Barry in Boston

Yeah, he got his wish and now he's a liberal martyr and once again elevated near the recognition level of his former tabloid television rival Bill O'Reilly. And even though he attacked us amid his fateful O'Reilly offensive, we're the first to say it:

Boy, do we feel sorry for Barry Nolan!

After leaving Hollywood and the tabloid world for the rarified and certainly liberal Boston television market, with knowledge of enough twenty-five cent words to get himself a spot on a National Public Radio-style word quiz show, and enough wit and boyish good looks (not to mention that Mensa card) to marry a respected local documentary producer and academic, surely he felt safe-- and, perhaps, duty-bound-- speaking up against a ticket-selling ploy by the local branch of the National Academy of Television and Sciences (SATAN in reverse, by the way) of offering his former tabloid television rival Bill O'Reilly a special Emmy.

But Barry's campaign got him fired from his job hosting a show for Comcast's cable system. Whether there's more to it than the fact that he spoke his mind (as Barry's related scattershot attack on this site might indicate), we'll find out, but in the meantime, public opinion was definitely not in his favor, as evidenced by the reaction to the Boston Herald tabloid's stories of his campaign-- and its repercussions.

Barry misjudged his audience-- something his mentors back in the halcyon (Peter Brennan) days of Hard Copy would not have done. Maybe he should have gone to the more liberal Globe, where he'd have a better chance of controlling the spin. But tabloid is as tabloid does.

Here are the first fifty or so comments on the Boston Herald website story of his ouster:

gungho_guy8888

You had your say, Barry...resulting in a 'dumb move' on your part...sayonara, Barry.

kevkristy

What a maroon... This no talent was lucky to be gievn a forum on a cable-access show, and he blew that. I applaud CN8. The intolerance of these liberal clowns is getting out of control. They are the modern day McCarthys.

Kellyg

Good luck, Barry. What's next after being fired from a Wayne's World job? I see a Deval Press Relation's role in your future!

byeteddy

Enjoy retirement Barry! Next time dont bark up the tree of a guy thats 1000 times more successful than you are.

BCEagle

Barry, there is a reason why you were (formally anyway) on CN8 and O'Reilly is on FOX. Hopefully Barry you've figured that out....

DAVY

Just another Bush hating, O'Reilly hating, bandwagon hopper, that probably never seen ONE episode of The O'Reilly Factor. Go sit on Keith Olberman's lap Barry, that's the only way you'll get back on TV again.

ChrisNH

Barry Nolan despises me, and I'm glad he's out 'looking at his lawn grow' now. What a haughty elite he is for shouting his liberal bias from the mountaintop. It's people like Barry that CONVINCE everyone else of the utter liberal bias that has ALWAYS existed in the mainstream media. And here comes Fox News and Bill O'Reilly--a LONE WOLF on the 'other side'--and poor Barry gets his panties in a wad because he simply can't STAND there to be even a semblance of 'equal time.' Nolan is a bottom-feeder of the worst kind. I hope his lawn gets crabgrass and his wife tosses him aside for someone a little less cantankerous. BFD that he just got a '5-Year watch' from a media outlet hardly anyone knows about.

JackTorse

While Barry is sitting on his front porch watching his grass grow, someone should walk up to him and hand him a cup of coffee . . . in an O'Reilly Factor mug.

rotinski

kevkristy- if you call someone a "maroon" when you are trying to say moron, doesn't it kind of backfire?... you are telling us more about yourself than Barry N

bf258

All is not lost, Barry. You can work again if you learn to say "Would you like fries with that".

ArtieG

Jessica, real professional and objective calling Bill O'Reilly a "Fox News blowhard". Nolan's inappropriate actions get him fired and yet you see fit to take a swipe at O'Reilly?

tappan

Good job Barry. The reason why O'Reilly is so dangerous is because the amount of idiots that believe his crap. Unfortunately they vote. To the 6 people above me in this comment thread. Go have a schlitz and bark at your wife about how many welfare mothers are stealing your hard earned cash as you watch Jerry Springer on your 200inch plasma.

ChrisNH

tappan, the very fact that there are TEN anti-Nolan posts before readers come to YOUR single post in defense of him tells us all we need to know. I suspect that you're probably the welfare mother or father that's doing the stealing, and happy to be doing so. True story.

Fredd

Interesting that the folks bashing Barry are not claiming that Barry was wrong in what he said. "He's delusional," Nolan said of O'Reilly, a former Boston TV anchor. "He's a man that mangles the facts." Do they actually believe that O'Leilly does not mangle the facts? Anyone that chooses to listen to Billo, knowing half the stuff that he says is unmitigated LIES, has a serious problem grasping reality. Good luck Mr Nolan in whatever you choose to pursue in life, hopefully you will remain in broadcasting as we could use some people with principles out there speaking the TRUTH.

GDubaUBush

Remember when this country had the right to free speach?

JackTorse

I remember that. I also remember when its citizens could spell the word "speech" correctly. C'mon man.

slickrick

"Remember when this country had the right to free speach? " Typical liberal idiot. Where was his speech denied? He spoke up and let his opinion be heard. Then his private employer fired him, blame your politicans for MA being a no fault State. How people forget you have the right to say whatever you want but there can be consequences for your actions as well.

Ziggy

Rotinsky, Generally that use of "maroon" is from Bugs Bunny cartoons. Kinda sorta more insulting that way.

Ziggy

GDubaUBush, "the right to free speech" means the goverment cannot pass any laws restricting it. You also have the right to suffer the consequences if your "speech" impacts on things like your employer as it did in this case. There is NO freedom from consequences for what you say.

Ellen

Look there's a lot I don't like about O'Riely even when I agree with him. There's a lot I don't like about a lot them. but what Barry Nolan did was just plain stupid. Talk about ego, and now he can just sit back and like the others say watch the grass grow.

tappan

To the scared and violent white suburban patriots getting ready for their "Budweiser slingfest backyard BBQ's"....Let me repeat what I said a few minutes ago.... Good job Barry. The reason why O'Reilly is so dangerous is because the amount of idiots that believe his crap. Unfortunately they vote. To the many people above me in this comment thread. Go have a schlitz and bark at your wife about how many welfare mothers are stealing your hard earned cash as you watch Jerry Springer on your 200inch plasma.

jimmc2990

LOL! As an RCN subscriber, I haven't seen Barry Nolan or Sara Edwards for years! I didn't know they were even on TV! The funny part is that he had to get fired from obscurity to land on the front page of the Herald.com...

Gooner

You have got to love all the O'Reilly fanboys in these comments typing their hatred through their official O'Reilly keyboards.

Jira

While O'Reilly sometimes comes on too strong, the fact is that he has the guts to publicly stand up to the liberals who want to open up our borders, tax us into oblivion and turn political correctness into an art form. Barry, go watch your grass grow.

troutrivers

Actually, the right to speak freely has been challenged many times in our history. Starting with John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts...Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus and three folks in prison without charges for months...Woodrow Wilson's administration effecively silenced fight Bob LaFollette opposition to the USA entering WWI...and on and on. The current administration has been quite tolerant of dissent in comparison. And speaking of this guy - he had every right to do what he did - as he can do so again if he chooses. But any future employer will also have the right to impose professional standards on his behavior as well.

ChrisNH

You don't need a better example than this to realize that Nolan is simply a Wal-Mart door greeter who took a lucky turn somewhere along the way. He and others of his ilk are assuredly not Mensa candidates, and here's Barry Nolan just putting an exclamation point on it. Somewhere, Bill O'Reilly is asking, 'Barry WHO?'

iggyd23

Barry was just a no talent jerk trying to be the local Olberman. Passing out that literature at the ceremony was just a spineless lib maneuver

jimmc2990

Hey tappan, go back to your tofu and birkenstocks and leave your hate speech in the closet where it belongs. Liberals love the truth as long as it fits their beliefs. They have no tolerance for another viewpoint, and you just help us conservatives make that point every day. Heck, I think O'Reilly says stupid things as well, but at least he says what he feels, and there's no crime in that unless you're a liberal and then it's all hate speech. Stop your hypocrisy.

THEONE

Good Luck Barry on you next adventure. The truth huts! B. O'reilly swept his harrassment case under the rug. Money talks, this b.s. is still walking on a "VERY" thin line. You should of booed him.

peterscala

Go to it Tappan. What O'Reilly does is the journalistic equivalent of Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment, in other words, it's schtick, with emphasis on the 'entertainment' part. ChrisNH can likely not appreciate the irony of his/her lock-solid, iron-clad conclusion that the posting of ten anti-Nolan posts to your one, actually proves anything. Wonder if (s)he owns a banjo? If the NH means New Hampshire, I suppose we can take the possession of that particular instrument as a given. He's sure got a purty mouth, now, don't he? huh, huh . . .

itsallonthelevel

I love "theone's" post about sweeping the stuff under the rug with money. Ever hear of the Kennedy's up there?

byeteddy

maroon is an insult just like moron didnt you ever see bugs bunny cartoons

Principled

I appluad channel 8, these mean spirited libs are way out of control. Maybe this will be a prelude to a house cleaning at MSNBC and NBC! Principled in Rangeley, Maine

reedkal

Barry, regardless of what you said, or how you said it, you are correct. Bill O'Reilly is a 'pundit'. A commentator who has little respect for the truth and ZERO tolerance for those who dissagree with him. (I notice how that is being shared by conservatives everywhere. "You're right until I say you're wrong!" I am saddened that an Emmy was presented to him. It loweres my esteem for the Academey of Broadcast Arts and Sciences. As for Savage (Weiner), well he IS a real terrorist. The first time I heard him, he was advocating the line-up of all liberals against a wall and machine gunning them! This from a man of Jewish heritage! Best of Luck Barry.

ktm400lc

Who's Barry Nolan?

spikewebbe

I wonder if Bill O'Reilly will call Barry Nolan a Pinhead or a Patriot??

Joke

Tappen, please just a few exsamples of what you speak.

heynow

It is hard to believe any one would be giving an honor to Bill O Do people still watch that channel he is on?

tappan

SHT OFF YOUR TV>>>>>THERE IS NOTHING scarier than a Northeast conservative. The bible belt conservatives are at least guided in their conscience by the Lord, and are good neighbors. Here, all it ever is, Gimme my right to have guns and lots of 'em, where's my right to kill the guy that will eventually come into my house and try to kill my family...Death penalty, Death penalty, Death penalty... Damn, look how the ACLU is killing my family...Look how the school system wants to teach sex ed that I don't appreciate, look how the town green can't have baby Jesus without having a Jewish Menorah, look how THEY say "Happy HOLIDAYS" instead of Merry X-mas.. You are ALL scared, you N'East conservatives. You are ALL tools who are making Howie and Bill LAUGH all the way to the bank.... Love your neighbor and buy more TOFU

Jira

In spite of being constantly reviled, Bill O'Reilly has the guts to publicly challenge the liberals who want to open up our borders, tax us into oblivion and turn political correctness into an art form. Barry, go watch your grass grow.

agingcynic

hey now: last time I checked, 3 times as many as watch MSNBC. Nolan is quoting Edith Freakin' Bunker and he's accusing OTHERS of being delusional? No wonder I haven't seen him in 20 years.

Jira

In spite of being constantly reviled, Bill O'Reilly has the guts to publically challenge the liberals who want to open up our borders, tax us into oblivion and turn political correctness into an art form. Barry, go watch your grass grow.

mrpickles

I bet Bill Oreilly is having the last laugh today.

BCEagle

heynow, The O'Reilly Factor has totally dominated the cable news programming over the past couple of years. That's why you have morons like Barry Nolan, Keith Olbermann and the rest of the "wine and brie crowd" lowering themselves to idiotic levels because they know they don't attract an audience like O'Reilly does...whether you love him or hate him...

peterscala

My WWE comparison stands in the matter of Bill O'Reilly. The guy's doing schtick, an act, whatever you want to call it. Somebody once said he'd rather "be loud than right" and there's the problem. A guy like John McLaughlin is bombastic and over-the-top, but regardless of the opinion, you have to admit he's entertaining. So much so that when Dana Carvey started lampooning him, the bit absolutely went to Carvey's top five. O'Reilly on the other hand, is just a mean-spirited blowhard who just happens to be an idiot on top of it. Check out his repeated references back in an '05 series of debates/discussions with Gen. Wesley Clarke to a massacre of German prisoner/soldiers by American troops at Malmedy, Belgium during WWII. Of course it just happened to be the other way around. German soldiers murdered unarmed American POWs who had their hands in the air. Hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good rant? It doesn't matter that Barry Nolan is a nobody in Bill's world. O'Reilly is deserving of honor from no one.

Tomasestinks

I don't even know where CN8 is on my TV. Hey Barry, my grass is growing as well. I'll pay you to come cut it, I figured you may need the cash and you do have the time.

slightcrazed

Tappan - your ignorance is staggering. You seem to be possessed of the same stereotypical view of we on the right that everyone on the left appears to have. Believe it or not, we ain't all gun-totin' bible-thumpin' overall-wearing hicks with bib-style overalls and mullets. If you'd but learn to diversify (and that is the word that defines a liberal, isn't it?) your political beliefs a bit and gain some respect and understanding for your political rivals you may just come to realize that, though we may think differently, we are all just people. I fully respect your right to your opinion, and will allow you to speak it without insult or injury. Will you not do the same?

SarcasticOne

"As for his future, he plans to get his lawn in good shape and spend time with his wife." It's a shame his wife will now have to suffer for his sins.

Massgopguy

Ah, CN8. The channell that BC HOckey is on when all the other sports stations have Pros. Congrats to PeterScala, over 150 words and no mention of Howie Carr. A new record.

ThreeRings

It's one thing to have an opinion, but Nolan went too far and embarrassed his employer.

penna100

Mrs.Heslam refers to Bill as a blowhard.I wish you sweeties would get it right.He\'s a commentator for the great Fox News.

ThreeRings

I guess Nolan couldn't stand the fact that no one cared what he thought, so he had to copy some lame quotes from some far-left website onto cards and put them on all the tables. That's crossing the line. That's liberals for ya: always throwing a tantrum when no one cares what they think.

troutrivers

I have a question for the folks who are so aghast at O'Reilly receiving an Emmy. What did you think when Hillary Clinton won her Grammy?

JackTorse

peterscala: The phrase you're quoting is as follows, and you'll love the author: "When the law is on your side, argue the law. When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When neither is on your side, yell." Al Gore.

BARRY NOLAN FIRED FOR HIS BILL O'REILLY EMMY AWARD OUTBURST AND PROTEST!

BASTARDS!

It appears that a grave injustice has been perpetrated by the moguls of mass media, most likely under pressure from network bigwigs, politicos and a conservative audience. But whatever the forces lurking inthe background, former tabloid television host Barry Nolan has been fired from his job as a cable system infotainment show host because he spoke out against his former tabloid television rival Bill O'Reilly receiving a local Emmy award, calling O'Reilly a "mental case" and threatening to bring O'Reilly's comic TV foil and genuine mental case Keith Olbermann to the awards show as his date.

O'Reilly received his award on May 10th with nary a peep from Barry, who was in the crowd. But Barry reportedly had attempted to leaflet the room with pages from the sex harassment case filed again O'Reilly and was stopped by security .

And today it's reported that Comcast gave Barry the boot on Tuesday, after a two-week unpaid suspension.

Now, look: we wrote s few weeks back that we thought Barry was being silly and unfair in calling O'Reilly names and saying it was wring to award him, since O'Reilly obviously deserved the honor for rising so far above his lowly local news roots. And we had some fun with Barry after he wrote in and insulted our editor, Burt Kearns, accusing him of sobriety, then went on a literary rampage in our comments section, going so far as to call one of our readers a "dipstick."

But Barry was well within his rights to make a scene. And amid his pompous posturings and partisan pipings, he explained his motives pretty simply:

"It is an award that is meant to recognize high standards - and both personal and professional integrity. I grew up in the 60's. If you thought something morally wrong was being perpetrated - you protested (bringing Olberman ((sic))) you didn't just bend over and grab your ankles and say 'yes sir may I have another.'"

We don't know what has been going on behind the scenes, or if the bizarre behaviour Barry had exhibited on this site had carried over into his workplace. But we do know that public opinion in and around Boston, which is not as liberal as many perceive, was against him, and that if he's being fired simply because of this publicity stunt, then SHAME ON YOU, COMCAST!

Did Barry's O'Reilly obsession go too far?

Was O'Reilly behind the firing?

This story is only beginning.

Meanwhile, Barry went back to the Boston Herald, where he first shot off his mouth, to announce the repercussions:

BOSTON HERALD
May 22, 2008

Comcast fires Barry Nolan
over Bill O’Reilly protest

By Jessica Heslam / MediaBiz

CN8 has fired veteran TV journalist Barry Nolan for publicly protesting the decision by the local Emmy Awards to honor Fox News blowhard Bill O’Reilly.

Nolan tells MediaBiz he was fired Tuesday following a two-week, unpaid suspension.

“I knew going in that there was serious risk that I’d lose my job,” Nolan said yesterday, “but nobody likes it when people tell them to stifle, not even Edith Bunker.”

A CN8 spokeswoman issued this statement: “Effective May 20, Barry Nolan is no longer employed by CN8, The Comcast Network. Backstage will continue to air weeknights at 8:00 p.m. with host, Sara Edwards, and its talented team of reporters and contributors.”

Before the May 10 awards, Nolan sent e-mails to industry colleagues encouraging them to write to the Emmy governors - if they shared his opinion - and let them know “this is an appalling choice for an honor.”

“He’s delusional,” Nolan said of O’Reilly, a former Boston TV anchor. “He’s a man that mangles the facts.”

At the awards, Nolan said he quietly put fliers on tables that “simply had” quotes from O’Reilly as well as three pages from the sexual harassment lawsuit O’Reilly settled that was brought by his former producer.

Security approached Nolan and told him he couldn’t distribute information at the event.

Nolan says he has no regrets about speaking out against giving O’Reilly “the highest honor” that the local Emmy Awards can bestow. Past winners include Mike Wallace and Natalie Jacobson.

“When they announced O’Reilly people booed,” Nolan said, “and it wasn’t me. I was quiet.”

Nolan says he just got his five-year watch at CN8. As for his future, he plans to get his lawn in good shape and spend time with his wife.

Hot Air times two: Barry Nolan sits quietly as Bill O'Reilly accepts a Boston Emmy, after calling him a "mental case" and threatening a protest

It appears that former tabloid television host Barry Nolan's big protest over Bill O'Reilly's Emmy honor in Boston ended in a big gala tuxedoed whimper. You'll recall that that Barry got himself in the papers by shouting that O'Reilly didn't deserve the award because he was a "mental case" (and-- let's cut through the BS-- a conservative) and threatened to disrupt the awards show by bringing real-life mental case Keith Olbermann as his "date" (and you'll recall that after we suggested that our former colleague Barry "get a grip," he responded by attacking our readers, the memory of actor David Dukes and possibly libelling our own Burt Kearns by suggesting he was "sober"). The "mainstream media" didn't follow up on Barry's initial publicity-seeking gasblast, so today we got in touch with the New England branch of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Its president was gracious enough to respond:

"Bill O'Reilly was presented the 2008 Governor's Award. His speech was about his ties to New England and what he learned in TV here. He was humble and gracious. And he was well received by the audience. Barry Nolan attended, Keith Olbermann did not.

"Here's a press release. Thanks for your interest in our event.

"-Tim"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WCVB & WBZ Rule Emmy Night
Bill O’Reilly, Lt. Governor Tim Murray, Kelley Tuthill and Gary Gulman provide a show for the ages

The Boston/ New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) celebrated its 31st Boston/New England Emmy Awards Gala on Saturday Night May 10th at the Marriott Copley Place. WCVB and WBZ grabbed the most statuettes with 10 each, followed by WFXT with 8, WHDH and NESN which took home 5 each, WGBH with 4 and WJAR, WTNH, WTIC, WPXT, CN8 which collected 3 each. Twenty two different stations were given awards and seventeen stations got to the stage multiple times, demonstrating the enormous amount of journalistic and creative talent working in broadcast media throughout New England. In total, NATAS presented 68 awards, selected among 788 entries from 37 stations; each a record number.

The evening’s centerpiece was the presentation of the prestigious Governor’s Award. This year’s award was given to Bill O’Reilly who was effusive in his thanks and praise for the city and market. During his remarks, the nation’s highest rated cable news host called Boston, “by far the best local news market in the country” adding that working at the Phoenix, attending BU and Harvard and anchoring both channels 5 & 7 had “made him what he is today.”

"What a phenomenal night!” said NATAS Chapter President Timothy T. Egan welcoming Lt. Governor Tim Murray to the stage to serve as a surprise presenter. “We are celebrating the best of the industry and this is the one night each year when you realize the absolute wealth of talent that lives and works in New England."

First time host Gary Gulman made a very auspicious debut. The Peabody native and former BC football player turned Leno and Letterman comic favorite kept the audience entertained throughout the evening...

More info at: www.emmyonline.org

Timothy T. Egan
President
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Thanks, Tim! And Barry, we're glad to see that you got a grip after all.

The Boston Emmys were handed out last night, but did Bill O'Reilly get one and did Mensa member Barry Nolan protest as he'd promised?

So they divided up the local Emmy awards at a hotel in Boston last night. That's the awards ceremony that former tabloid television host and self-proclaimed Mensa member Barry Nolan had promised to protest a special Emmy given to fellow former tabloid television host Bill O'Reilly by bringing O'Reilly's liberal comic TV foil Keith Olbermann as his date.

We've found a lot of write-ups about the awards, but none about the ceremony or whether O'Reilly got an award, whether Barry protested-- or if Barry's pull as a local cable television host married to a local journalism professor got the award scuttled ahead of time.

Information, please! Barry, please fill us in before the Boston gossip columnists do!

Barry Nolan's O'Reilly attack gets new attention

With the story picked up a week after it broke by the influential Wonkette political media site, it looks as though former tabloid television host Barry Nolan has gone and changed his obit with his campaign to deny former Inside Edition host and current tabloid television superstar Bill O'Reilly a special Emmy in Boston-- the TV market O'Reilly left behind and to which Barry returned after the TMZ-centric tabloid television business swept him aside.

Today, Wonkette posts:

'Mental Case' Bill O'Reilly Urged Not To Attend Boston Emmys

A Boston area cable news host thinks Bill O'Reilly is such a dangerous "mental case" that he should not be the guest of honor at the Boston/New England Emmys. This brave crusader even offers up evidence that O'Reilly's crazy loofah rants are signs of an actual personality disorder or something.

CN8 personality Barry Nolan got ahold of an Indiana University study that offers incontrovertible truth that Bill O'Reilly is a frightful asshole. According to this scientific report, O'Reilly "calls a person or group a derogatory name once every 6.8 seconds on average," which proves he is a mental case.

For this reason, O'Reilly should be run out of town on the short bus instead of being honored at this swank local television affair. But awards organizers disagree, arguing that O'Reilly's nuttiness and douchebaggery pale in comparison to the wonderful fact that he worked in Boston once.

Wonkette not only failed to recognize Barry as a former tabloid television star (and member of Mensa), but left out the most amusing part of his ill-advised name-calling campaign-- his promise to bring actual mental case (and O'Reilly aura leech) Keith Olbermann to the awards show as his "date."

Meanwhile, the attention-grab has led Barry, who is now a panelist on a radio quiz show and apparently the host of a local cable TV entertainment show (a New England version of Dr. Ruehl?), to be ridiculed as an out-of-touch liberal pinhead and opponent of Free Speech-- an image problem compounded, after our initial report, by his decision to attack our editor, Tabloid Baby author Burt Kearns, as a drama queen and liar-- and accuse him of being sober.

It also triggered an immediate backlash from New Englanders, the media in general, and most embarrassingly, a former chancellor of Boston University, who said O'Reilly was not only deserving of the award but "a remarkably evenhanded journalist... a credit to our school and a worthy mentor to students."

But with the continuing interest in the story, and its slow build across the Internet, there's clear that Barry may one day be remembered less as a former host of Hard Copy than as a footnote in a future edition of an O'Reilly biography

Humiliation! Boston University bigwig bitchslaps Barry Nolan; calls Bill O'Reilly "an evenhanded journalist" who deserves local Emmy honor

"Bill O’Reilly was then
and continues to be
a remarkably evenhanded journalist
of whom we at BU
continue to be proud.
He is a credit to our school
and a worthy mentor to students."

Yeah, we'll run a few more items on our former colleague, the former tabloid television host Barry Nolan (we used to put words in his mouth, made him look authoritative and made him rich) and his misguided campaign to deny tabloid television superstar Bill O'Reilly a local Emmy in Boston. He hasn't apologized for calling Tabloid Baby author Burt Kearns a liar and accusing him of being a teetotaler, so we figure he knows he deserves it.

But what showed up in the Boston Herald today (that's the paper with the gossip column in which radio quiz show panelist and Mensa member Barry first spouted off) really takes the cake. See, according to the Herald,

"Nolan insists that O’Reilly is 'a mental case' who shouldn’t be held up as an example of journalistic integrity to budding TV journos from Boston University and Emerson College."

Today, the Herald prints a letter from John Silber, president emeritus of Boston University:

O’Reilly worthy of honor

I was surprised about Barry Nolan’s outburst and his effort to organize a movement demanding that the honor planned for Bill O’Reilly at next month’s local Emmy Awards be rescinded (“Barry Nolan pleads: Give Bill the boot!” April 11). Nolan even stoops to suggest that Bill O’Reilly is a mental case.

I weigh in on this issue because five years ago as chancellor of Boston University I was pleased following the vote of the BU alumni board to present O’Reilly our Distinguished Alumnus Award. Had there been any truth to the allegations of Nolan, we would never have considered it.

Bill O’Reilly was then and continues to be a remarkably evenhanded journalist of whom we at BU continue to be proud. He is a credit to our school and a worthy mentor to students.

John Silber
President Emeritus
Boston University

Barry continues to come under withering attack from his fellow Bostonians, who are flooding the Herald website with attacks, joining him in name-calling, labelling Barry, among other things, a "jealous arrogant loser," "pinhead," "clueless... moonbat" and "crazy," and suggest, among other things, that "Mr. Nolan better stop looking in the mirror at his hairdo and start searching the world around him for the real truth."

No wonder he doesn't have time to spar with our readers.

Barry Nolan goes silent after "attorney's" threat

It’s been 30 hours since former tabloid television host Barry Nolan has raised his épée or unloosed any cutting epigrams against any Tabloid Baby staffers or readers.

The Hard Copy frontman-turned-radio quiz show panelist has, however, ridden the back of his successful former tabloid television competitor, cable news titan Bill O’Reilly, to media attention since his eruption late last week, when he launched a one-man campaign to deny O’Reilly a local Emmy honor in Boston, where he was once a lowly TV newsman.

The stunt was launched in a tabloid gossip column, but after being picked up by the TV Newser site, his much-lampooned “cry” of “I am appalled! Just appalled!” has echoed clear across the country to the LA Times.

It was over the weekend, while basking in his first national attention in close to a decade, that Barry stooped to respond to this humble team’s tweaking (we'd suggested that he "get a grip") -- getting bitterly personal in an attack against our editor, Tabloid Baby author Burt Kearns, calling him, in effect, a drama queen, liar, bully, a writer of (half-made-up) “crap,” throwing in a bizarre mention of “wetbacks” and most alarmingly, accusing him of "getting sober."

Barry’s rampage continued as he took time from reading the Sunday papers to take on bemused Tabloid Baby readers in the Comments section, calling them “O’Reilly fanboys,” confusing the late actor David Dukes with Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, and quoting Wikipedia entries about O’Reilly before apparently being silenced by the sabre-rattling of a perhaps imaginary attorney who suggested we sue over his comments:

At 10:59 AM on Saturday, a reader calling himself “Attorney” commented:

“What a pompous ASSHOLE. 

Nolan libeled you at least four times in that public comment. You should sue the motherf-cker.”

Barry responded to the "attorney" 21 ½ hours later, when concluding a post in the comment section:

“… as for the dipstick lawyer who wrote in suggesting you have been libeled? Bring it on. The truth will be an adequate defense.”

The “attorney” commented yesterday at 10:41 AM:

“Dipstick?

 Mr. Nolan, would you please extend the courtesy of giving me the phone number of your attorney?

 He, and you, can expect a call during the workweek.”

Nine minutes later, Barry replied:

“Dear Attorney:



Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)



Dipstick -noun -



2. Slang. fool; jerk. 



Sue me you dipstick.”

And then, perhaps because the last link from the attorney included a link to a Los Angeles lawfirm (Editor's Note: We called, and no one there knew what we were talking about), or thanks to a cooler head on the shoulders of his new wife, the documentarian and assistant professor at Boston University, Barry went silent.

Meanwhile, his campaign against O’Reilly is not only being lambasted by our readers. MediaBistro, whose TV Newser site helped spread the story, is running a bulletin board called "Who is Barry Nolan and why is this News?", which you can read for yourself here. And The Boston Herald, which ran Barry’s original outburst, has fielded scores of ridiculing responses and is now spotlighting this Letter To the Editor online:

No Prize for Nolan:

So Barry Nolan is lobbying to rescind Bill O’Reilly’s award (“Barry Nolan pleads: Give Bill the boot!” April 11). If O’Reilly were an Air America commentator bashing the “vast right-wing conspiracy,” I’m sure Nolan would be praising him as the equivalent of Edward R. Murrow. I see that Nolan has the next best thing to the ghost of Edward R. Murrow in the selection of his “dinner date,” Keith Olbermann.

Hey Barry, how many awards have you gotten?

- Kevin Barry, Braintree

We expect that Barry will write in to tell us.

(FUN FACTS: Barry’s bio on the Says You! radio show page mentions that he has appeared in numerous films, including ‘The Birdcage,’” and is “a member of Mensa.”)

Exclusive. Barry Nolan goes berserk; attacks readers, attorney & memory of character actor David Dukes; claims to own Truth; misses point

Former tabloid television host Barry Nolan has come out of the woodwork kicking and screaming as he takes on Tabloid Baby readers mano-a-mano in an attempt to explain his headline-grabbing stunt aimed at denying former tabloid television host and current cable news titan Billy O’Reilly a local Emmy.

The actor and radio quiz show panelist made national headlines Friday when he used a gossip column in a Boston tabloid newspaper to launch a vicious personal attack against O’Reilly, who’s set to receive a local Emmy honor for rising so far above his roots as a local TV newsman.

Barry, was quoted as being “appalled, just appalled” that the locals would honor “a mental case,” and said he would make a statement by bringing O’Reilly’s comic foil Keith Olbermann to the ceremony as his "date."

After we suggested that Barry should “get a grip” (after all, local Emmys aren’t exactly hometown Nobel Peace Prizes-- they’re self-promoting sops divvied up among the competitors each year-- even Tabloid Baby author Burt Kearns has a NYC news Emmy honor in a box somewhere), and that despite our animus toward O’Reilly (see Marvin Kitman’s O’Reilly bio, The Man Who Would Not Shut Up), Barry's use of Olbermann, an actual mental case, as his punchline, blew the joke, Barry attacked Burt!

He called his former producer a liar, and, what’s worse, actually accused him of “getting sober”!

Now Barry is taking on our readers, and again he appears to be missing the point, continuing to insist that he doesn’t want to give Olbermann an award, even though no one-- not us, not a reader— has suggested he did!

Barry vs. “Tom”: “Grab your ankles”
Last night, Barry got a bit condescending with a thoughtful reader:

Tom said...Barry, what does bringing Olby to the event prove? Sure, he'll be pissed, but you're a grown man, and by all accounts so is Olby.

And please explain how and why you believe the left wing media reports the truth, where as the right wing media does not.

Do you really think the schlock that comes from that former sportscaster who lies on a regular basis, smears those that dare disagree with him, never deviates from his regular guest list cause he can't stand to have people on his show who don't preach to his choir, and throws softballs to Dems and doesn't have the balls to go toe to toe with anyone is legitimate journalism???

You're a legitimate journalist right? And you believe Olby to be the same?

Hey, at least you'll never be WPITW, along with Bin Laden.

Barry responded:
I will type it again slowly so maybe you can read it: I do not suggest that Olberman is worthy of an award - or is an example of someone NATAS should give a award to. Nor is O'Reilly. It is an award that is meant to recognize high standards - and both personal and professional integrity. I grew up in the 60's. If you thought something morally wrong was being perpetrated - you protested (bringing Olberman ((sic))) you didn't just bend over and grab your ankles and say "yes sir may I have another".

What O'Reilly calls the "left wing" media - what other people call the news - gets things factually correct - whereas Falafel Boy is challenged that way. Read (this) for instance, summed up in Wikipedia thusly:

A poll conducted between June and September of 2003 asked people whether they thought WMD had been discovered in Iraq since the war ended. They were also asked which media sources they relied upon. Those who obtained their news primarily from Fox News were three times as likely to believe that evidence confirming WMD had been discovered in Iraq than those who relied on PBS and NPR for their news, and one third more likely than those who primarily watched CBS.

Spend 10 minutes on Google - there are abundant examples of O'Reilly getting it wrong while insisting he is right, bullying, bloviating, threatening. The wrong guy to give an award to unless perhaps you are David Dukes.*

*We’ll give Barry a break on that last point, and assume he got the name wrong,” and actually means “David Duke,” the former Ku Klux Klan wizard. David Dukes is the late character actor.

David Dukes, late actor; David Duke, racist

Barry vs. The “O’Reilly fanboys”

This morning, Barry twice responded to a group of commenters, one of whom who suggested that he is a “pompous ---hole” and a “motherf-cker” who should be sued because of what he wrote about us.

Barry said...
In chapter 3 of his book “Kids Are Americans Too,” Fox News host Bill O’Reilly wrote that “the Constitution guarantees all of us, in a famous phrase, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’” On the Jan. 2 edition of his show, O’Reilly read a letter from Courtney Yong, a young girl from San Francisco, who pointed out that the “famous phrase” actually came from the Declaration of Independence, rather than the Constitution. Despite clearly having made an error in his book, O’Reilly refused to admit that he made any mistake.
Then Barry said...
To give himself a semblance of credibility, he repeatedly claimed he won a Peabody Award. The fact is, he did not. His old show, Inside Edition, won the much less prestigious Polk Award – after O’Reilly left the show.

Just of late, he has wrongly claimed that US soldiers massacred Nazi soldiers after the battle of Malmedy. When in fact it was the Nazi who massacred our GI’s.

O’Reilly had to settle the sexual harassment suit against him for an estimated $10 million. And need I remind you that the priggish moralist was the married father of two at the time of his great Falafel exploits.

So is this the caliber of man that you and your fawning O’Reilly Fanboys would give an award? The man you would set as an example for your children to follow? And you suggest that I should get a grip? Perhaps you should nurture in yourself some regard for facts, truth and decency. And as for the dipstick lawyer who wrote in suggesting you have been libeled? Bring it on. The truth will be an adequate defense.

Don’t worry, Barry, were not going to sue you. Sticks and stones and all that. We’re tabloid. We welcome and encourage the free exchange of ideas from everyone.

But we do gather from your comments that after your return to Boston from Hollywood, marriage to a documentarian and college professor (mazel tov), move to public radio, the flaunting of the Mensa membership card and use of words like “thusly,” that you’ve become something of an elitist and are somewhat ashamed of your own tabloid past (Editor’s note: Barry’s lasting contribution to the genre is the Hard Copy-derived Paramount VHS docudrama alleging that Marilyn Monroe died from a suppository force-rammed up her butt— and yes, Barry read Burt’s words on that one). And you’re falling into O'Reilly's trap of applying the tactics he attributes to pointy-headed liberals, in effect becoming hoist by your own noisy petard by using personal attacks against those who disagree with you ("Got sober"??).

The bottom line is, if you'll read more slowly, you'll see that most of us don’t disagree with you about O’Reilly. We just view him as an entertainer, like you are. We give “the public” more credit than you do. And by standing on your soapbox, throwing around weighted words like “truth” and silly phrases like “I’m appalled,” “I grew up in the 60s,” and “Perhaps you should nurture in yourself some regard for facts, truth and decency,” (sheesh...) well, we think you’re taking the local news Emmys, and yourself, a tad too seriously and that you need to get a grip.