‘m not the story,” Emily Steel insists. It’s Monday morning and the 33-year-old reporter is sitting near her desk at the New York Times, taking a break from her regular media-business writing to give an interview herself. She is petite, with a soft high-pitched voice, in pearl earrings and a pussy-bow blouse—exactly the kind of woman that a man like Bill O’Reilly might underestimate.
Three weeks ago, the Fox News figurehead was the most visible face of the President’s favorite network. Until Steel and her Times colleague Michael S. Schmidt published an explosive investigation into repeated settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior. They found that O’Reilly had settled with at least five accusers over the last 15 years, to the tune of $13 million. (O’Reilly denies any wrongdoing.) Within days of their report, over 50 advertisers publicly dropped his show. Now, of course, he’s out of a job.
