What Does the FOX Say?
A Key West citizen’s response to Bill O’Reilly and Jesse Watters of FOX News
A popular viral video these days asks the ubiquitous question, “What does the fox say?”, and I admit, I would much rather be discussing the mysterious vocalizations of this furry animal than a FOX News report. However, after watching the most recent segment of Watters’ World on The O’Reilly Factor, I feel it is my duty as a Key West citizen to respond to this video. Upon seeing the tagline, 'Watters' World' Proves There's Really No Other Place in America Like Key West, I eagerly clicked the link to see the Southernmost City that I call home featured on a national program. My excitement quickly turned to dismay, which gave way to sheer disbelief, as the segment went on. In case you missed it, the feature that aired last Monday on The O’Reilly Factor can be seen here.
Not being a regular watcher of The O’Reilly Factor or FOX News in general, I had never heard of Jesse
Watters or his featured report Watters’
World. I have not watched any other segments to see if he portrayed the other
cities he’s visited as unfairly as Key West. And no, that isn’t because we don’t
own TVs down here; it’s because I have better things to do with my time. This
response is simply to set the record straight on the city of Key West and the
completely skewed and illogical perception that Jesse Watters and Bill O’Reilly
gave to their viewers.
Bill O’Reilly introduces the segment by saying, “If you’ve ever been to Key West, Florida, you know it is the end of the USA in more ways than one.” The alarm bells started ringing in my head almost immediately, but when O’Reilly mentioned Ernest Hemingway and Harry Truman, and said, “There is no place more colorful in America than Key West,” I thought maybe it was just an isolated dig in the opening line. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
To anyone who actually lives in Key West, it was immediately apparent that Jesse Watters chose to interview a wildly disproportionate slice of the local population, including homeless people, a woman having her hair cut in a parking lot, and drunk people (some of whom very well may have been tourists) outside of bars. While these people have their place among Key West’s “One Human Family”, they are clearly misrepresentative of the population as a whole. Why didn’t Watters interview a broader spectrum of the local population? I guess a diverse, well-educated community of hardworking professionals, talented artists, and sun-loving retirees wouldn’t have given the responses he needed to paint this ugly picture of Key West. After all, toothless alcoholics talking about chasing women make for much better television.
The mere fact that Watters asked one woman, “Do you know what the internet is?” shows the level of respect he had for the people he was interviewing. I’m willing to bet that he didn’t ask Mayor Craig Cates that question when he interviewed him. Oh wait, you wouldn’t have even known that he interviewed Mayor Cates because that segment got left on the cutting room floor. Why wasn’t the interview with the mayor included in the final edit? Jesse and his crew were also spotted at Blue Heaven restaurant while they were in town. Why wasn’t any of that footage included? I’m sure the hardworking staff and regular local customers would’ve given a much better perspective on life in Key West. But then again, that would’ve made it harder to splice in clips from Animal House and The Sopranos, among others. And of course, it wouldn’t have worked with the ridiculous carnival music that ended the segment, just to reinforce the point that Key West is a town full of misfits and circus freaks who neither know nor care about the world north of Mile Marker 4.
Just when I thought the worst was over, Watters and O’Reilly felt the need to elaborate upon the piece. Somewhat shockingly, the studio discussion began with O’Reilly saying he’s been visiting Key West since 1971. Odd, I never thought that the illustrious Bill O’Reilly would choose to spend his time among such degenerates and outlaws. That must be why he goes in disguise, even though he follows that up by saying nobody would recognize him anyhow since we don’t watch TV. Perhaps the best line of the entire piece was then uttered by Jesse Watters: “Nobody watches TV. They don’t have telephones, internet, they don’t even have bank accounts.” Really? Did he really just say that? Watters went on to describe the lawlessness, saying he didn't see one police officer the entire time he was here. I assure you there are police officers everywhere; in fact, I've never seen so many police anywhere else I've lived! The clip ends by implying your children aren’t safe here (“People on vacation with kids? No! They have to watch out. There’s some jackals down there. You may wind up in Cuba.”), and then O’Reilly hypocritically saying Key West isn’t even suitable for a day trip, despite the fact he’s been coming here himself for over 40 years.
Look, I’m not saying that Key West is perfect, and we definitely have more than our fair share of characters, but Watters’ and O’Reilly’s depiction of the city could not be more inaccurate, particularly for a network that touts itself as “Fair and Balanced”. According to the Key West Chamber of Commerce, in 2012 the median price for a single family home was $425,000, nearly double the national average of $219,000 last year (National Association of Home Builders). It’s amazing that people can afford to live here if they waste their days drinking margaritas or spend all their money on “hookers and blow”, as one fine interviewee so eloquently stated. Furthermore, in December 2012, Key West had an unemployment rate of 4.0%, compared with 8.0% for Florida and 7.6% nationwide that same month (KWCC). It’s too bad 96% of the population was working, leaving Watters with only the remaining denizens to discuss food stamps, Obamacare, and other issues that advance the FOX News agenda. That’s really what this is all about, but I don’t want to get political. My goal is simply to stop the spread of disinformation.
According to an article in the Key West Citizen, the Tourism Board has decided not to respond to the story because they don’t believe it will negatively affect tourism. Mayor Cates bashed the piece on his Facebook page and some city council members have spoken out against it, but there is disagreement on the necessity of a formal response. Commissioner Yaniz encouraged locals to post positive memories of Key West in a turn-the-other-cheek approach. However, thanks to social media, disinformation spreads faster than ever, and when I saw some of the comments to this video posted on Jesse Watters’ Facebook page, I couldn’t let it go.
Several people claimed that this was the best segment of Watters’ World so far, and others told Jesse, “Great job” and “Keep up the good work”. Others wrote things like, “this was funny, that place is like its own seperate [sic] wacked out little world” and “All I could do is say, 'Ai yi yi...how DUMB are the people in Key West and how much do you want to bet this is the criminal on the lam capitol [sic] of America!'” Within the last few days, the retaliatory comments began to surface, but the citizens of Key West need more than a Facebook comment section to make their voices heard.
So, for anyone who saw this segment and was given a completely inaccurate impression of Key West and the people who live here, I am here to set the record straight. Key West is the most colorful place in the USA, but not for the reasons the sly FOX would have you believe. Seeing is believing, so come see Key West for yourself before making sweeping generalizations about how dumb its people are. Yes, you’ll find the type of people shown on Watters’ World, but they’ll be just a small part of our lively, diverse community.
Bill O’Reilly introduces the segment by saying, “If you’ve ever been to Key West, Florida, you know it is the end of the USA in more ways than one.” The alarm bells started ringing in my head almost immediately, but when O’Reilly mentioned Ernest Hemingway and Harry Truman, and said, “There is no place more colorful in America than Key West,” I thought maybe it was just an isolated dig in the opening line. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
To anyone who actually lives in Key West, it was immediately apparent that Jesse Watters chose to interview a wildly disproportionate slice of the local population, including homeless people, a woman having her hair cut in a parking lot, and drunk people (some of whom very well may have been tourists) outside of bars. While these people have their place among Key West’s “One Human Family”, they are clearly misrepresentative of the population as a whole. Why didn’t Watters interview a broader spectrum of the local population? I guess a diverse, well-educated community of hardworking professionals, talented artists, and sun-loving retirees wouldn’t have given the responses he needed to paint this ugly picture of Key West. After all, toothless alcoholics talking about chasing women make for much better television.
The mere fact that Watters asked one woman, “Do you know what the internet is?” shows the level of respect he had for the people he was interviewing. I’m willing to bet that he didn’t ask Mayor Craig Cates that question when he interviewed him. Oh wait, you wouldn’t have even known that he interviewed Mayor Cates because that segment got left on the cutting room floor. Why wasn’t the interview with the mayor included in the final edit? Jesse and his crew were also spotted at Blue Heaven restaurant while they were in town. Why wasn’t any of that footage included? I’m sure the hardworking staff and regular local customers would’ve given a much better perspective on life in Key West. But then again, that would’ve made it harder to splice in clips from Animal House and The Sopranos, among others. And of course, it wouldn’t have worked with the ridiculous carnival music that ended the segment, just to reinforce the point that Key West is a town full of misfits and circus freaks who neither know nor care about the world north of Mile Marker 4.
Just when I thought the worst was over, Watters and O’Reilly felt the need to elaborate upon the piece. Somewhat shockingly, the studio discussion began with O’Reilly saying he’s been visiting Key West since 1971. Odd, I never thought that the illustrious Bill O’Reilly would choose to spend his time among such degenerates and outlaws. That must be why he goes in disguise, even though he follows that up by saying nobody would recognize him anyhow since we don’t watch TV. Perhaps the best line of the entire piece was then uttered by Jesse Watters: “Nobody watches TV. They don’t have telephones, internet, they don’t even have bank accounts.” Really? Did he really just say that? Watters went on to describe the lawlessness, saying he didn't see one police officer the entire time he was here. I assure you there are police officers everywhere; in fact, I've never seen so many police anywhere else I've lived! The clip ends by implying your children aren’t safe here (“People on vacation with kids? No! They have to watch out. There’s some jackals down there. You may wind up in Cuba.”), and then O’Reilly hypocritically saying Key West isn’t even suitable for a day trip, despite the fact he’s been coming here himself for over 40 years.
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| Children aren't safe in Key West? Uh oh, don't tell Disney Cruise Line and the hundreds of families they bring here each week! |
Look, I’m not saying that Key West is perfect, and we definitely have more than our fair share of characters, but Watters’ and O’Reilly’s depiction of the city could not be more inaccurate, particularly for a network that touts itself as “Fair and Balanced”. According to the Key West Chamber of Commerce, in 2012 the median price for a single family home was $425,000, nearly double the national average of $219,000 last year (National Association of Home Builders). It’s amazing that people can afford to live here if they waste their days drinking margaritas or spend all their money on “hookers and blow”, as one fine interviewee so eloquently stated. Furthermore, in December 2012, Key West had an unemployment rate of 4.0%, compared with 8.0% for Florida and 7.6% nationwide that same month (KWCC). It’s too bad 96% of the population was working, leaving Watters with only the remaining denizens to discuss food stamps, Obamacare, and other issues that advance the FOX News agenda. That’s really what this is all about, but I don’t want to get political. My goal is simply to stop the spread of disinformation.
According to an article in the Key West Citizen, the Tourism Board has decided not to respond to the story because they don’t believe it will negatively affect tourism. Mayor Cates bashed the piece on his Facebook page and some city council members have spoken out against it, but there is disagreement on the necessity of a formal response. Commissioner Yaniz encouraged locals to post positive memories of Key West in a turn-the-other-cheek approach. However, thanks to social media, disinformation spreads faster than ever, and when I saw some of the comments to this video posted on Jesse Watters’ Facebook page, I couldn’t let it go.
Several people claimed that this was the best segment of Watters’ World so far, and others told Jesse, “Great job” and “Keep up the good work”. Others wrote things like, “this was funny, that place is like its own seperate [sic] wacked out little world” and “All I could do is say, 'Ai yi yi...how DUMB are the people in Key West and how much do you want to bet this is the criminal on the lam capitol [sic] of America!'” Within the last few days, the retaliatory comments began to surface, but the citizens of Key West need more than a Facebook comment section to make their voices heard.
So, for anyone who saw this segment and was given a completely inaccurate impression of Key West and the people who live here, I am here to set the record straight. Key West is the most colorful place in the USA, but not for the reasons the sly FOX would have you believe. Seeing is believing, so come see Key West for yourself before making sweeping generalizations about how dumb its people are. Yes, you’ll find the type of people shown on Watters’ World, but they’ll be just a small part of our lively, diverse community.
If you love Key West, its people and its spirit, please feel free to share this and spread the truth about our city. Much to Jesse Watters’ dismay, we have the internet and we know how to use it.
I loved in the lower Keys, Stock Island and Key West for many, many years! I have lived in many others places. I found dumb, uneducated, mean and harmless people every single place I ever lived, but I also found good people, honest people, decent hard working people. I worked in the school system, worked in three restaurants and captained a lobster boat of my own. I loved Key West and would truly love to spend the remainder of my life in the lower Keys. to me the Keys are the most special place in the whole of the US of A! frankly, most of us would be much better off without TV and internet!
ReplyDeleteI watched the episode on Key West, not because I am a fan of Bill O'Reilly's but because it was brought to my attention by my daughter who lives there. It is unbelievable that a guy who has been spending time in Key West since the 70's has the audacity to portray it as a place of ill repute. And if it is so bad, why is this guy spending so much time there? I think it is nice that the people of Key West have decided to take the 'high road' and remained silent, for the most part, in responding to such criticism from a ratings whore like Bill O'Reilly. You can be sure if I were a 'local' and had the privilege of seeing Mr. O'Reilly and possibly hosting him at my establishment I would be sure to spit in his food or put yellow dye in his shower head. Franky, I think it's time that people like O'Reilly be called out on the hypocrisy they spew. He and people like him are a cancer to human kind and America as a whole. I love Key West!!! I love the diversity. I love the people! Bill needs to shut up and stay home!!
ReplyDeleteWell said. Bill O. and pals continue to poison the airwaves with false info. Glad some locals are standing up to the Fox bullying and smear campaign. Good on ya.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late to the party, just found this blog article but wanted to say what a great response it is to the ignorance that Fox News spews forth every night. Keep fighting the good fight down in Key West!
ReplyDelete