Olbermann gave "Worst Person" bronze to "webmasters at BillOReilly.com" for "Those weren't veterans John Edwards, they were sex offenders" headline

On the February 8 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment to "the webmasters at BillOReilly.com," the website of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. Olbermann stated:

OLBERMANN: The bronze to the webmasters at BillOReilly.com. A list of headlines linking visitors to various news stories, including one about efforts to disperse a group of men convicted of sexual offenses who have been camped under a bridge in Miami. The headline the website composed for that story, quote: "Those weren't veterans John Edwards, they were sex offenders." It is safe to assume Bill-O does not write nor approve the link language at his website. The culprits here more likely his minions trying to brown-nose him, which is disgusting in several different levels. Instead, they've just created a sixth apology Bill-O owes homeless vets and Senator Edwards.

As Media Matters for America documented, on February 7, the "O'Round the World: Stories from the 'No-Spin' News Desk" section of BillOReilly.com featured a link titled, "Those weren't veterans John Edwards, they were sex offenders." The phrase referred to a recent back-and-forth between O'Reilly and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) over homelessness and homeless veterans, which began when O'Reilly responded to Edwards' January 3 remark that "tonight, 200,000 men and women who wore our uniform proudly and served this country courageously as veterans will go to sleep under bridges and on grates," by stating in part: "The only thing sleeping under a bridge is that guy's brain."

The BillOReilly.com link directed visitors to a February 6 Associated Press article on Florida's attempts "to dissolve a community of sex offenders living under a bridge" in Miami "that includes a gym, kitchen, living room and two dogs."

—J.M.