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| In the final segment of each show, O'Reilly presents e-mail from viewers with wide-ranging views. It is unknown whether the number of supportive or critical letters is indicative of all the viewer mail he gets, especially since criticism of O'Reilly over being a conservative is far more widespread, particularly on the Internet, in numerous newspaper editorial columns, and even by politicians. O'Reilly has claimed that the mail is "70/30" in favor of him on at least one occasion.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | In the final segment of each show, O'Reilly presents e-mail from viewers with wide-ranging views. It is unknown whether the number of supportive or critical letters is indicative of all the viewer mail he gets, especially since criticism of O'Reilly over being a conservative is far more widespread, particularly on the Internet, in numerous newspaper editorial columns, and even by politicians. O'Reilly has claimed that the mail is "70/30" in favor of him on at least one occasion.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | ||
| Some critics claim the show has a tendency to exclude guests who are neither ] nor ], thus showing O'Reilly's bias in favor of the ]. During the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, O'Reilly's show allegedly reneged at the last minute on granting ] candidate ] air time. However, ] was a guest during both his 2000 and 2004 campaigns for president and also after the ] attacks. | |||
| ], a media analyst for the liberal group ], said that "the O’Reilly factor is probably the perfect example of everything that’s wrong with ]. They have stories that are selected primarily to upset liberals and Democrats and prop up Republican Party. You have a hostility towards guests that disagree with the host and you have a host who in service of his conservative politics will distort facts, will misrepresent things, and will in some cases, just fabricate." <ref>] ()</ref> | |||
| A study from another liberal organization, ] said that over a period of four months, the percentage of conservative guests varied from 35% to 42%, liberal guests varied from 14% to 19%, and neutral guests varied from 40% to 47%. This report would seem to contradict the claim that O'Reilly excludes independents, while reinforcing the claim of his conservative bent. The study did not take into account guests of either affiliation who were invited but declined to appear on the show. | |||
| On Bill O'Reilly's off days, the show's guest-hosts have included Fox News Channel commentators ] and ], and syndicated conservative radio talk-show host ]. | On Bill O'Reilly's off days, the show's guest-hosts have included Fox News Channel commentators ] and ], and syndicated conservative radio talk-show host ]. | ||
Revision as of 21:34, 16 February 2007
1996 American TV series or program| The O'Reilly Factor | |
|---|---|
 O'Reilly Factor promotional image from FoxNews.com | |
| Created by | Bill O'Reilly |
| Starring | Bill O'Reilly (1996–present) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | Unknown |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox News Channel |
| Release | 1996 – Present |
The O'Reilly Factor is a talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who discusses current political and social issues with guests from opposing ends of the political spectrum. The show premiered in 1996 along with the Fox News Channel. It was previously known as the O'Reilly Report, and O'Reilly's first guest was General Barry McCaffrey, then the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (or "Drug Czar").
The show is well-known for its confrontational approach, as O'Reilly often gets heated during arguments with guests which has created much controversy. O'Reilly ends each episode of The Factor by reading a selection of mail received from viewers, presenting letters that both support him and oppose him. Despite the mix of views in the letters selected for on-air reading, some columnists and news broadcasters routinely call him a conservative pundit, a label he denies.
Format
The program is done "live to tape", meaning that unlike other Fox News Channel programs at night, The O'Reilly Factor is prerecorded. The program is live for breaking news or special events. The show usually tapes between 5 and 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, although some guests are interviewed before the "live to tape" period and are slotted in the program as appropriate. (Some guests have suggested that interviews are edited after taping, although O'Reilly's producers insist that editing happens only when an interview exceeds the available length in a program of which the total is 43 minutes for an hour-long slot, once commercials and news breaks are added.)
O'Reilly and his producers discuss potential topics twice a week. A producer will research the story and book guests for O'Reilly, and an information packet will be produced with possible angles for O'Reilly to explore. The producers will often "pre-interview" the guest so that they know what potential points he will make. For each show, O'Reilly with the assistance of his staff will produce a script with the words for the "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day" segments, and points of discussion and questions for the guests that will appear on the program.
O'Reilly divides his show into titled segments, appearing in the following general order. Not all segments appear in all programs, and occasionally segments will repeat.
- Talking Points Memo: O'Reilly's commentary on a current event or the state of the country. This does not usually appear when there is a substitute host, although John Gibson has done it on occasion.
- Top Story: O'Reilly covers one of the most important stories of the day, with interviews with newsmakers, noted analysts, or Fox News Channel reporters. If there is nothing breaking, the Top Story will often expand on the subject covered in the Talking Points Memo with a guest that either rebuts or concurs with the memo.
- Impact: O'Reilly focuses on issues of crime and the law in this segment. Updates on criminal investigations, trials, and lawsuits are highlighted. Other times, issues relating to government relations and agencies are featured, as are stories about the Iraq War.
- Unresolved Problem: O'Reilly focuses on an issue which he feels is not sufficiently covered by other media.
- Personal Story: O'Reilly invites an author of a best selling book, a newsmaker thrust into the spotlight, someone who has experienced an event currently in the news, or someone who has interviewed a newsmaker. The goal of this segment is to have the guest relate his or her personal experiences about the topic.
- Factor Follow-Up: O'Reilly revisits an issue discussed in a previous edition of the Factor.
- Back of the Book: Various interesting topics will be placed in this segment, which is one of the last segments (hence the name). The tone can range the gamut from extremely serious to light hearted.
- The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day: a brief segment highlighting something O'Reilly finds absurd.
- Factor Mail: O'Reilly reads brief snippets of electronic mail sent to him. He frequently puts together letters that have opposite viewpoints on a particular segment. For instance, one letter will say O'Reilly was way too lenient toward a guest while the next will say he was way too hard on him or her.
Occasionally, the following segments appear:
- Children at Risk: O'Reilly covers issues relating to the health and well-being of children and adolescents.
- Factor Investigation: O'Reilly invites guests who have investigated a person or organization that O'Reilly dislikes.
- Fridays with Geraldo: Geraldo Rivera, of the Fox News-produced and syndicated Geraldo At Large, discusses a topic of interest to O'Reilly. Often, Geraldo comes on Thursdays, because O'Reilly frequently takes Fridays off. Sometimes its own segment; other times rolled into one of the above segments
- Bloviating with Bill: A regular viewer gets a chance to debate O'Reilly.
When O'Reilly cannot host the show, Fox News Channel selects his replacement. Depending on the substitute's time frame, the program may be live more often, especially with John Gibson. Sometimes a previous show is rebroadcast but this has become more rare to the point of not happening anymore. A notable interview will usually reair filling up one or more segments in a show with a guest host.
O'Reilly has had two call-in segments to his show: one immediately following and in response to Connie Chung's interview with Gary Condit on August 23rd 2001 and the other on September 29th, 2001 with Gary Bauer as his guest, pertaining to terrorism.
Regular guests
- Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House.
- Ellis Henican, Fox News analyst & Newsday columnist
- John Kasich, special guest host.
- Michelle Malkin, Fox News contributor.
- Kirsten Powers, Fox News contributor, often paired with Malkin in segments.
- Jane Hall, Fox News contributor.
- Bernard Goldberg, Former CBS correspondent, recently paired with Hall in segments.
- Rachel Marsden, Canadian contributor.
- Dick Morris, Fox News political analyst.
- Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial analyst.
- Geraldo Rivera, Fox News reporter at large.
- Al Sharpton, civil rights activist.
- Tony Snow, special guest host (left after being appointed press secretary to U. S. President George W. Bush).
- Jesse Watters, Factor field producer
- Juan Williams, Fox News contributor
- Neil Cavuto, Your World with Neil Cavuto host, and frequent business advisory guest.
- Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator
- Laura Ingraham, talk radio pundit and frequent special guest host.
- Dennis Miller, comedian
- Bill Maher, comedian, host of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO.
Frequent topics
- National Security vs. the Infringement of Constitutional Civil Liberties
- Iraq War
- Jessica's Law - O'Reilly is pushing for legislation in all 50 states to pass the law. He has states shaded based on which ones are supporting it and those that resist it.
- Traditionalists vs. "Secular-progressives" - O'Reilly discusses a "culture war" between these two lines of thinking.
- Illegal Immigration
Allegations of bias
During discussions about controversial subjects, The O'Reilly Factor typically features guests with opposing viewpoints. Regardless of Mr. O'Reilly's assessment and opinion, he often grants airtime to both sides of the spectrum on most issues. However, he has been known to interrupt a guest when he feels that the guest is "spinning" the subject, and he often interjects his opinion during the debate. The liberal group Media Matters has claimed that O'Reilly will abruptly end the interview if he feels the guest is "spinning" too much. O'Reilly acknowledges his show is an editorial program, rather than a strictly neutral news report.
In the final segment of each show, O'Reilly presents e-mail from viewers with wide-ranging views. It is unknown whether the number of supportive or critical letters is indicative of all the viewer mail he gets, especially since criticism of O'Reilly over being a conservative is far more widespread, particularly on the Internet, in numerous newspaper editorial columns, and even by politicians. O'Reilly has claimed that the mail is "70/30" in favor of him on at least one occasion.
On Bill O'Reilly's off days, the show's guest-hosts have included Fox News Channel commentators John Kasich and John Gibson, and syndicated conservative radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham.
Parodies
On October 17, 2005, The Colbert Report premiered on Comedy Central. The show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, is a satirical spoof of The O'Reilly Factor, spoofing its format and the mannerisms and ideology of O'Reilly, whom Colbert calls "Papa Bear." Colbert makes no secret of his spoofing O'Reilly: upon hearing the news that O'Reilly said he likes The Colbert Report, Stephen declared on-air that "I like you too. In fact, if it wasn't for you, this show wouldn't exist." Many of Stephen Colbert's attitudes, actions, or program segments are directly inspired by O'Reilly's show. Colbert calls the character based on Bill O'Reilly a well-intentioned but misinformed, high-status idiot. (On January 18, 2007, Stephen Colbert appeared on the O'Reilly Factor and Bill O'Reilly appeared on the Colbert Report.)
The O'Reilly Factor has also been spoofed on Saturday Night Live, first by Jeff Richards and later on by Darrell Hammond. On Mad TV it was Michael McDonald doing the honors. O'Reilly himself has appeared on Mad TV as a judge on an American Idol parody.
In addition, The O'Reilly Factor has been parodied on South Park in the episode Goobacks.
People who decline to appear on The Factor
O'Reilly has invited people who have been critical of him (or vice versa) and/or dealing with a controversial situation that have declined or ignored the invitation. Some that have been invited but have not gone on include Hillary Clinton, Dick Cheney, Nicholas Kristof, and VH1.. One person who refuses to go on The Factor ever again is Michael Moore, citing that O'Reilly was "too mean" to him on his last visit to the show.
It is said that actor Alan Alda is "welcome anytime" to the show, but declines to appear because "he is not a fan" (quotes from Bill O'Reilly responding to a letter from a viewer who asked if Alan Alda would be appearing).
People not allowed on The Factor
- David Brock: President of Media Matters for America has written a letter asking to be a guest on The Factor after O'Reilly repeatedly criticized him on the show. . O'Reilly has not responded. Media Matters also quoted O'Reilly as saying: "I have no respect for that organization. They will never set foot, not only in my program, but at Fox News Channel, because they are dishonest, inherently dishonest. They take stuff out of context, they use smear tactics. They're paid assassins by George Soros."
- Al Franken: Despite almost constant criticism and refusing to use his real name (referring to him as Stuart Smalley, a character Franken created and played on Saturday Night Live) O'Reilly has not had Franken on since the publication of "Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them: A Fair and Balanced look at the Right", a book highly critical of O'Reilly and his colleagues at the Fox News Channel.
The following people have expressed an interest to appear on the show but, as of now, O'Reilly has not stated any response to their requests.
- Michael Badnarik: Libertarian candidate for President who O'Reilly allegedly cancelled while Badnarik was en route to the studio, in June 2004. O'Reilly has not rescheduled Badnarik to appear on The Factor.
See also
External links
- "The O'Reilly Factor" Official Website
- Bill O'Reilly's Official Website
- The O'Reilly Factor on TV.com
- Bill O'Reilly's visit to The Colbert Report
References
- Solomon, Deborah (2005-09-25). "Funny About the News". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Stephen Colbert Enters the No Spin Zone. Foxnews.com Published 2007-01-18. Last Retrieved 2007-01-19.
- Bill O'Reilly Pt. 1. ComedyCentral.com January 18, 2007. Last Retrieved 2007-01-19.