National media ignoring Norfolk case?

Goldberg weighs in on the race crime in Virginia and the reluctance by the media to cover it

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 7, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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O'REILLY: "Impact Segment" tonight. Let's get down to Miami where our pal Bernie Goldberg is standing by to analyze the Virginia situation. You should know Mr. Goldberg recently won a National Emmy for his HBO investigation on college football and big money. How many Emmys does that make for you Goldberg? How many?

BERNIE GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Even dozen, 12.

O'REILLY: Twelve, do you have it there, can you hold it up and just show everybody? Did you bring it with you?

GOLDBERG: No. I don't have it with me.

O'REILLY: No you don't keep it the in car? A couple you know just in case?

GOLDBERG: No. I do. It is in the car. It's downstairs.

O'REILLY: Well, congratulations, 12 Emmys and you're nine up on me and I don't think that's fair. Ok.

GOLDBERG: No, that's ok.

O'REILLY: Now this is a serious story. And isn't it amazing -- isn't it amazing that you have the locals trying to spike it and kill it and then the national media won't go near it. What do you attribute that to?

GOLDBERG: Well, let's -- let's take this one step at a time. As you correctly said in the memo, if this were a gang of white people who attacked a young black man and woman, everybody agrees that would be news. But when it was a gang of black people, it wasn't news. Why is that? Well, it must have something to do with the race of the assailants.

So, here is what it is really about, Bill. Here is what it is really about. It goes beyond journalism. It -- it's a much bigger issue. It's about white, usually white liberal paternalism where they say well, we really can't hold black people up to the same standards as we hold white people up to. That's why we are not putting it in the paper. They are different.

So two things happen after that one, the newspaper, the media, they don't want to air that kind of dirty laundry because it's kind of embarrassing to the black community. And, two, they don't want to give ammunition to the bigots who probably would say, you see, that's how they all behave.

Now, look, we hate, we detest the bigots. But a newspaper has a responsibility to cover legitimate news. And if it's news if a white gang beats up a black couple, then it's also news if a black gang beats up a white couple.

O'REILLY: Could you believe this guy Finley the editor of the newspaper said well, I don't know if it was racially motivated. So therefore I'm not going to do anything, I'm not going to assign reporters, I'm not going to try to find out. I mean, is it me? Is it me?

GOLDBERG: No, no, no. You said something else in -- in the interview with Jesse that was correct. He found out in one day ten times more than the entire staff of the newspaper has found out to date. I mean, one guy goes down there and finds out. He starts talking to people.

So look, you know why the editor hasn't found out yet if it's racially motivated?

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Because he --

GOLDBERG: -- doesn't want.

O'REILLY: Right.

GOLDBERG: -- he doesn't want to find out if it's racially motivated.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Isn't --

GOLDBERG: Because that's where -- that's where there is trouble. If he finds out that it is racially motivated, if they get quotes from people, you know, along the lines of what Jesse got that, yes, we see white people, they are easy targets. Believe me, they don't want any part of that.

O'REILLY: Isn't white liberal paternalism as you put it bias? Isn't it prejudice?

GOLDBERG: I would go a step further. It's a form of racism. It's a form of racism. Could you imagine saying well, I don't want to hold black people to the same standards as whites. Whites are obviously much better than those people. That's racism. That's despicable. That's nasty stuff.

And -- but -- but when -- but when a newspaper editor does it, well, we can't call him a racist because he's probably also a liberal --

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: But it's not just him. It's extended to the national media.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

O'REILLY: Because they well know the story now. This is like the fourth night we've reported the story. They all know it. All right? You can't tell me that MSNBC, if it were reversed wouldn't be every show, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, on and on and on.

GOLDBERG: Well -- well, so -- so -- so would the "New York Times."

O'REILLY: Yes.

GOLDBERG: It would be a big story. This is where the paternalism kicks in. They -- they don't. A, they don't expect the same standards from black people. Although they'll deny that forever.

But one thing that they can't deny, they don't want to embarrass -- they don't want to air this kind of dirty laundry. That's one thing.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: And you know what? This has been going on --

GOLDBERG: They don't want to give ammunition to the bigots. This is a major -- these are two major points.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: No and that's a -- that's -- absolutely. Now Bernie and I worked together briefly at CBS. It was briefly for me. Bernie was there forever. And Bernie wouldn't talk to me in the hallway or anything like that because I was the new guy.

GOLDBERG: That's not true. That's not true. That's not true. I said hey, get me some coffee, rookie.

O'REILLY: Anyway that's right. I had to do it.

Real quick. I get sent out to Province Town, Massachusetts to do story on the Portuguese infrastructure on that town.

GOLDBERG: Oh yes, yes.

O'REILLY: And the gay influx on the weekends where there were a bunch of gay guys acting out in public that were offending the population there. I had a great story. I brought it back. They wouldn't run it. And they wouldn't run it for exactly the same reason that you just said because they didn't want bigots saying looking at all those homosexuals, look at what they are doing. They are terrible people.

And they took a great story and they just threw it away. And I was stunned. I came off local news. And that was my first network experience. But this is going -- this has been going on for 30 -- 30 years. And it's still as bad as it's ever been.

GOLDBERG: Right.

O'REILLY: Last word.

GOLDBERG: Right, I think -- I think they are right in that bigots would use it as ammunition. And you, Bill and I hate that. We detest the bigots. But journalists have an obligation and the obligation --

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: To report the truth.

GOLDBERG: -- is to their viewership and their readership and that's to report the news. Let somebody else deal with the bigots. The newspaper has to report the news.

O'REILLY: All right. Bernie Goldberg, everybody.

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