Fox News is reportedly releasing a new primetime historical special series produced by Bill OReilly. OReilly, who has written a series of books focused on the deaths of prominent historical figures, has been criticized by historians and critics for shoddy scholarship and ahistorical claims. Capital New York reporter Alex Weprin writes today that Fox is planning to launch the OReilly-produced Legends and Lies in April. Per Fox News, the show will recount the tales of the greatest characters of Americas Wild West, including Jesse James, David Crockett, Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid and air on Saturday and Sunday nights. Weprin explains that it will feature interviews with historians and descendants of the people in question, paired with special effects and archival photos. OReilly, with co-author Martin Dugard, has released a series of popular history books in recent years, titled Killing Jesus, Killing Patton, Killing Kennedy, and Killing Lincoln. But Fox News giving OReilly a historical show comes after years of criticism of his previous work in the genre. For example, in an opinion piece for CNNs Belief blog, Notre Dame New Testament and early Christianity professor Candida Moss argued, The Holy Spirit may have inspired Killing Jesus, but he didnt fact-check it. According to Moss, OReilly botches several things in the book, leading her to conclude, Its entertaining, but its historical fan fiction, not history. In 2011, controversy erupted after Fords Theatre announced that OReillys Killing Lincoln would not be sold at the theaters museum bookstore (it was available in the gift shop, however) after a reviewer identified a series of mistakes in the book. According to Rae Emerson, an employee of Fords Theatre National Historic Site, Killing Lincoln was not fit for the museum bookstore due to lack of documentation and the factual errors within the publication. Killing Lincoln was also criticized in University of New Hampshire professor of history Ellen Fitzpatricks review for The Washington Post...
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 00:07:40 +0000
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