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Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)

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Bill O'Reilly

William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10 1949) is an American commentator, editor, author, syndicated columnist, and a journalist. While his work frequently appears on the radio and in print, O'Reilly is best known as the host of the cable television editorial program The O'Reilly Factor, broadcast on the Fox News Channel. Between 2003 and 2005, it ranked number #1 among cable news programs, averaging 2.2 million viewers daily in 2005. [1]. The O'Reilly Factor offers O'Reilly's point of view on national and international events through his self-described "no-nonsense" commentary and interviews. O'Reilly calls himself a "warrior" against social changes he perceives and those who he believes are causing them, notably "secular humanists and secular progressives."

O'Reilly also hosts a radio program syndicated by Westwood One entitled The Radio Factor, and has written five books of his own social-political views. His views are frequent sources of controversy in various media outlets, including his own programs.

Personal background

Early Life

O'Reilly was born in New York City, to Irish Catholic parents William and Angela O'Reilly, from Brooklyn, New York and Bergen County, New Jersey, respectively. His father was initially a shopkeeper, then later a storeroom stocker. In 1951, his family moved to a home on Long Island, in Levittown, NY[1][2].

After graduating from the Catholic Chaminade High School in 1967, O'Reilly attended Marist College, a small, co-educational private institution in Poughkeepsie, New York. While at Marist, O'Reilly played punter[2] on the school's football intramural team, and was also a columnist and feature writer for the school's newspaper, The Circle. As an honors student majoring in history, he spent his junior year of college abroad, attending Queen Mary College at the University of London. [3] O'Reilly received his Bachelor of Arts in 1971. He played semi-professional baseball during this time as a pitcher for the Brooklyn Monarchs, leading him to try out to play for the American professional baseball team, the New York Mets. O'Reilly married Maureen McPhilmy, a public relations executive, in 1995. They have one daughter, Madeline, born in 1998, and a son, Spencer, born in 2003. According to an October 2005 interview in Newsday, O'Reilly hired bodyguards and is very sensitive about the general public taking pictures of him, calling them "stealth paparazzi". [4] O'Reilly has requested that no photographs of his home or family be made public — citing a desire to protect his family's privacy and security.

He and his family now live in Manhasset, New York.

Broadcasting career

After graduating from Marist, O'Reilly moved to Miami, Florida, where he taught English and history at age 21 for two years. After leaving Miami, O'Reilly returned to school, earning a Masters in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University in 1976. While attending Boston University, he was a reporter and columnist for various local newspapers and alternative news weeklies, including The Boston Phoenix. O'Reilly did his broadcast journalism internship in Miami during this time, and was also an entertainment writer and movie reviewer for The Miami Herald.

File:IEPromoWJLA1993.jpg
WJLA, Washington, D.C. Inside Edition promo featuring Bill O'Reilly, 1993.

O'Reilly's early television news career included reporting and anchoring positions at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he also reported the weather. At WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, O'Reilly was awarded the Dallas Press Club Award for excellence in investigative reporting. He then moved to KMGH-TV in Denver, Colorado where he won an Emmy for his coverage of a skyjacking. O'Reilly also worked for KATU-TV in Portland, Oregon, as well as TV stations in Hartford, Connecticut, and in Boston, Massachusetts [5].

In 1980, he anchored his own program on WCBS-TV in New York where he won his second Emmy for an investigation of corrupt city marshals. He was promoted to the network as a CBS News correspondent and covered the wars in El Salvador and the Falkland Islands from his base in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1982). He later left CBS over, amongst other tensions, a dispute concerning the uncredited use in a report by Bob Schieffer of riot footage shot by O'Reilly's crew in Buenos Aires during the Falklands conflict. (A 1998 a novel by O'Reilly, Those Who Trespass: A Novel of Television and Murder, depicts a television reporter who has a similar dispute over a Falklands War report. The character proceeds to exact his revenge on network staff in a series of graphically described violent ritualistic murders [3]).

In 1986, O'Reilly joined ABC News as a correspondent on ABC World News Tonight. In three years, he appeared on the show over one hundred times, receiving two National Headliner Awards for excellence in reporting.

In 1989, O'Reilly joined the nationally syndicated King World (now CBS) program Inside Edition, a tabloid-style current affairs television program in competition with A Current Affair. He started as senior correspondent and backup anchor for celebrated British TV host David Frost, and subsequently became the program's anchor after Frost's brief tenure. In addition to being one of the first American broadcasters to cover the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, O'Reilly also obtained the first exclusive interview with murderer Joel Steinberg and was the first television host from a national current affairs program on the scene of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

In 1995, O'Reilly was replaced by former NBC News and CBS News anchor Deborah Norville on Inside Edition. He then enrolled at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he received a Master's Degree in Public Administration. Upon leaving Harvard, O'Reilly was hired by Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of the then startup FOX News Channel, to anchor The O'Reilly Report. The nascent channel's most popular show was renamed to The O'Reilly Factor when it moved to a later time slot in 1998 since the host was the main "factor" of the show.

The O'Reilly Factor

Main article: The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor Promotional Image

O'Reilly's television show, The O'Reilly Factor, is routinely one of the highest-rated shows of the three major American 24-hour cable news channels (CNN, FOX News and MSNBC). The show is taped late in the afternoon at a studio in New York City and airs daily on the FOX News Channel at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Factor gained its popularity in the late 1990s through O'Reilly's reporting on the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. [citation needed] O'Reilly has repeatedly claimed throughout the years that Bill Clinton had the IRS audit him.[4]

In 2001, Mr. O'Reilly was given credit by many, (including the US Congress), for ensuring money raised by the Red Cross and the United Way for the victims of September 11, 2001, actually went to the victims of 9-11-01, instead of being diverted to other areas. In 2005, he participated in a fund raiser on NBC for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake.

Sexual harassment lawsuit

On October 13, 2004, O'Reilly sued former O'Reilly Factor producer Andrea Mackris, her lawyer (Benedict P. Morelli), and Morelli's law firm for extortion contending Mackris had privately demanded more than $60 million (USD) to settle a claim of sexual harassment. Shortly after O'Reilly filed his lawsuit on October 13, 2004, Mackris filed her complaint of sexual harassment.[6] In her complaint she alleged that O'Reilly made inappropriate and lewd sexual comments to her on numerous occasions.[7][8] On October 19, Mackris filed an amended complaint in which she detailed some of the allegedly sexually harrassing comments O'Reilly had made (the comments were allegedly transcribed from an unreleased audio tape of a telephone conversation between Mackris and O'Reilly [9][10][11]). The amended complaint also sought additional damages and described alleged actions of retaliation by Fox, et.al.[11] O'Reilly never filed an Answer to the complaints and on October 28, Mackris' case was settled out of court when O'Reilly agreed to pay her an undisclosed sum.[12] Both parties agreed to keep the terms of settlement confidential and withdrew their claims of wrongdoing. After the case was settled, O'Reilly's only public comment was "this chapter is behind me and I will never talk about it again."

Published works

O'Reilly's political beliefs and point of view

O'Reilly's self-description

O'Reilly disagrees with a common claim that he is a conservative, preferring to call himself a traditionalist and a populist. In his book The O'Reilly Factor, he describes his political affiliation this way: "You might be wondering if whether I'm conservative, liberal, libertarian, or exactly what... See, I don't want to fit any of those labels, because I believe that the truth doesn't have labels. When I see corruption, I try to expose it. When I see exploitation, I try to fight it. That's my political position." O'Reilly describes much of his work as a non-partisan approach to politics and analysis.

In his January 20, 2006 "Talking Points Memo", O'Reilly claims that "...left-wing opposition to drastic punishment for child molesters is misguided" and that as a result "Liberals will never come to power in the United States", at least in his lifetime. [6]

Views regarded as conservative

  • Believes if the "forces of secularism" go unchecked, they will destroy America as we know it[7]
  • Supports using the American military to enforce the United States-Mexico border
  • Opposes the inheritance tax
  • Supports a flat tax
  • Opposes race-based affirmative action
  • Opposes Embryonic stem cell research
  • Supports intelligent design taught in public schools
  • Supports the Flag Desecration Amendment
  • Supports domestic surveillance programs
  • Believes the ACLU is currently the most dangerous organization in the United States of America[8]
  • O'Reilly is an outspoken opponent of former president Bill Clinton and Janet Reno, and has referred to the two jointly as the "Clinton-Reno regime".[9] He has praised John Ashcroft in comparison to Reno, whom he called the worst attorney general in history.[10]
  • He has also said that he does not believe voters should any longer trust the Democratic party, and summed up his opinion with the following statement: "The truth is that the Democratic party has been hijacked by the far left and really can't persuade anyone anymore."[11]
  • Supported the Impeachment of Bill Clinton
  • Supports the "Don't ask don't tell" policy and opposes openly declared homosexuals in the military
  • Supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage
  • Supported federal intervention by Republican politicians in the Terri Schiavo controversy to reinstate her feeding tube

Views regarded as moderate

  • Initially supported the war in Iraq, but now believes it may not have been the correct theatre of battle.
  • Supports placing higher taxes on vehicles that consume more gas
  • Support for President Clinton's opposition to Slobodan Milošević
  • Supports guest-worker program for undocumented immigrants
  • Has shown some support for gay adoption
  • Opposes prostitution on grounds of "laziness" rather than any moral problem with it [13]
  • He considers global warming an established fact.[12]
  • States he opposes death penalty because the state should not execute people and it is not a strong deterrent[13]. Also states hard labor is a better deterrent than death penalty[14](3/15/2005 he argued in favor of death penalty [15]).

Views regarded as liberal

  • Criticism of free-market economics in the oil industry
  • Supports income-based affirmative action
  • "60 Minutes" reported that he has left-leaning views on gun control.

Opinions on other's politics

O'Reilly's position on "extremists" in politics is divided between the "far left" and "far right". He personally considers Nazis[16], American militia groups[17], David Duke, [18],the Ayn Rand Institute[19]and ann coulter(Radio Factor6/7/06) to be on the far-right.

O'Reilly has identified the following people or organizations as being on the far left: Susan Sarandon [20], Russ Feingold [21], Chuck Schumer[22], Barbara Boxer[23], Ned Lamont[24], Cindy Sheehan[25], Ted Kennedy[26], Bruce Springsteen[27], Bill Moyers[28], Harry Belafonte[29], Howard Dean[30], Dixie Chicks[31], Al Franken[32], George Clooney[33], Media Matters for America[34], the ACLU[35], Air America Radio[36] and moveon.org[37] [38].

Politicians Endorsed by O'Reilly

  • In his first book, The O'Reilly Factor, he declared Robert F. Kennedy to be his all-time favorite politican.
  • On the September 24 2005 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, he advised his viewers to vote for Republican Doug Forrester in the 2005 New Jersey gubernatorial election, suggesting that Jon Corzine, a Democrat, would not be as tough on child molesters [14].
  • O'Reilly also urged his listeners on The Radio Factor to vote against Democratic Senator Tom Daschle in the 2004 Senate election [15]
  • In 2003 O'Reilly urged the voters of California to recall governor Gray Davis, stating, "The corrupt Democratic machine has to go," and urging them to vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger[39]. However, in the same segment, O'Reilly mentioned that the "corrupt GOP" that was once in power in his home of Nassau County, New York also had to go and that the new Democrat in charge has been doing OK.
  • Two years later, on the day of the citizen initiatives elections in California, as well as the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, he urged his listeners to vote for the Republican governor's proposals on the ballot [16].
  • In 2004 he urged his viewers to vote against Democratic senate candidate Betty Castor in Florida.[40]

Claims of Fairness

O'Reilly vigorously maintains that he has a neutral point of view and sums up his policy towards liberal and conservative guests on his program as follows:

"And if you do an analysis every day of the voices and the time given to stories and people, you'll see that liberal people get just as much time as conservative people on the Fox News Channel, and the commentators are pretty much split down the middle on their ideological bent."

Controversies

Main article: Bill O'Reilly controversies

Over the years, there have been several ongoing controversial issues highlighted in O'Reilly's print and broadcast work. O'Reilly has been accused by various media personalities and groups of spreading misinformation, showing pompous and aggressive behavior, and portraying biased viewpoints as fact.[citation needed] He has been involved in many disputes with figures and sources including Al Franken, Keith Olbermann, Media Matters, Neal Boortz, and various Iraq War critics, including Jeremy Glick. For other controversies and further details, please see Bill O'Reilly controversies.

References

  1. ^ Nielsen Media Research (2005). "Nielsen Media Research; 2005 Competitive Program Analysis" (PDF).
  2. ^ Duffy, Don (1970). ""Campus Stuff" (The Circle)" (PDF). Poughkeepsie, NY: Marist College (Originally published in The Circle on November 19, 1970). Retrieved December 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Marist (2001). "2001 Commencement Program". Poughkeepsie, NY: Marist College, Office of Alumni Relations (Originally published in the May 19, 2001 Commencement Program). Retrieved December 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Gay, Verne (2005). "What's hate got to do with it?" (October 18 ed.). Newsday.
  5. ^ Malinowski, Scoop (November 8, 2004). "Get 2 Know Bill O'Reilly!". TheBioFILE.com. Retrieved September 9. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  6. ^ Photocopy of lawsuit
  7. ^ TheSmokingGun.com (2004a). "O'Reilly: Female Aide in $60M Extort Bid". Courtroom Television Network LLC (appeared October 13). Retrieved July 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ TheSmokingGun.com (2004b). "O'Reilly Hit With Sex Harass Suit". Courtroom Television Network LLC (appeared October 13). Retrieved July 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Photocopy of complaint report
  10. ^ "O'Reilly, Accuser Air Their Cases", Washington Post, October 15, 2004, by Howard Kurtz.
  11. ^ a b "Bill O'Reilly, Producer Settle Harassment Suit", Washington Post, October 29, 2004, by Howard Kurtz.
  12. ^ Kurtz, H. (2004). "Bill O'Reilly, Producer Settle Harassment Suit". The Washington Post Co. (washingtonpost.com on October 29). Retrieved December 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Kincaid, Cliff (2002). "Shame on Fox News". Washington, D.C.: Accuracy In Media (December 19). Retrieved December 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ O'Reilly, Bill (2005). "Protecting the Kids in New Jersey..." FOX News.
  15. ^ G.W. (2004). "Self-proclaimed non-partisan Bill O'Reilly urged listeners to vote against Daschle in South Dakota; O'Reilly's Dem Convention preview: Daschle's "no good"; [[Nancy Pelosi|Pelosi]]'s a "nut"; [[Max Cleland]]'s "strange"". Media Matters. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  16. ^ O'Reilly, Bill (2005). "Election Day, 2005". FOX News.
Preceded by Host of Inside Edition
1989–1995 		Succeeded by
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