WASHINGTON - September 26 - Fox News Channel's recent statement in response to the racially charged remarks made by Bill O'Reilly is emblematic of a larger problem -- the cable news channel's long record of racially divisive reporting and commentary, which belie its claims to be a respectable news organization.

In response to coverage of O'Reilly's shocking comments about his dining experience in Harlem, Bill Shine, senior vice president of programming at Fox News, released the following equally shocking statement, "This is nothing more than left wing outlets stirring up false racism accusations for ratings. It's sad."

Fox News' statement ignores the larger problem that comments like O'Reilly's present for the network's integrity, instead launching into an attack on rival news organizations.

"Fox News' response to the uproar over O'Reilly's statements sounds like spin you'd hear from a political campaign in damage control mode, not what you'd expect from a legitimate news organization," said Eric Burns, Chief Communications Strategist at Media Matters for America. "Their response resorts to a partisan attack, belying their claim to be a principled news source."

In fact, Fox's response clearly demonstrates that the problem is deeper than just O'Reilly. As Media Matters has repeatedly documented, these comments are part of a long history of racially divisive reporting and commentary. The dismissive response of Fox News executives to those who raise important questions about Fox's racially charged commentary and how it affects the integrity of their news coverage says more about the values of Fox News than anything else.

Media Matters items on Fox's racially divisive coverage: click here.

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