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Bill O’Reilly’s top rated program may air on the conservative leaning Fox News Channel but that doesn’t mean he toes the conservative line.
From the L.A. Times
In a no-frills studio in Fox News’ Manhattan headquarters, Bill O’Reilly was wrangling with a guest, as usual.
This time it wasn’t a liberal foe but conservative strategist Dick Morris, who was hammering the Justice Department for hiring a group of lawyers — dubbed the “Al Qaeda Seven” by the right-wing advocacy group Keep America Safe — that had represented terrorism suspects in private practice.
But O’Reilly didn’t buy Morris’ argument that the lawyers’ past work made them a security risk. “You shouldn’t be demonized because you take on an unpopular client,” he countered.
The top-rated cable talk-show host has always been a contrarian, a self-described culture warrior who touts traditionalism while also favoring gay adoption and some gun-control measures. But in recent months, as the country’s political discourse has curdled, O’Reilly’s independent streak has become even more pronounced — particularly in contrast to Fox News’ newest star, Glenn Beck, who has rallied both passionate fans and detractors with his apocalyptic rhetoric about the Obama administration.
O’Reilly urged a national conference of conservatives to refrain from personal attacks on President Obama. He noted that employing fear in politics is a “double-edged sword” that “can lead to violence and heartbreak.” And he declared that he did not believe the president was a socialist, drawing mockery from radio host Rush Limbaugh. “Name-calling gets us nowhere,” O’Reilly replied mildly.
He still digs into his favorite targets with relish, particularly the “far-left media” and Hollywood celebrities. But lately, O’Reilly’s tenor has been remarkably measured.
“You’ve become in some ways the voice of sanity here, which as I said, is like being the thinnest kid at fat camp,” comedian Jon Stewart quipped during an appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor” last month.
Sitting in his 17th-floor corner office on a recent afternoon, O’Reilly maintained that he hasn’t changed. “If you’re coming to me to hear the choir, then you’ve got to be a relatively new viewer, because we’ve been pretty independent for a long period of time,” said the 60-year-old host, thumbing through manila folders holding research for that evening’s show.
O’Reilly has long cultivated his outsider status, bristling at being labeled a conservative or a Republican mouthpiece. So it’s not surprising that at a time when commentators on the political right have sharpened their attacks on Obama, he has sought a different tack: criticizing the president’s policies but not the man himself. “I like Obama,” he said, but thinks he lacks the experience to handle the job.
O’Reilly’s colleagues have taken note of his mellower demeanor. “Some of the conversations are still heated, but you may not see the vein explode anymore,” said Amy Sohnen, O’Reilly’s executive producer, who helped launch his show in 1996.
Brit Hume, the network’s senior political analyst, views it as a sign that the long-embattled host has finally accepted his success. “Other channels have thrown everything they could at him, and there he is,” Hume said. “At this point, Bill is kind of supreme.”
“The O’Reilly Factor,” which kicks off the network’s prime-time lineup, is Fox News’ most valuable advertising vehicle, a fact evident in O’Reilly’s salary, which is well north of $10 million a year, according to a person familiar with the terms. This year, he is on track to record his best ratings ever, averaging 3.7 million viewers, up 8% over 2009, according to Nielsen. His competitors lag far behind, with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann pulling 984,000 viewers on average and CNN’s Campbell Brown drawing 635,000.
O’Reilly, who studies the ratings every afternoon, said that despite his dominance, he never feels he can relax. But he acknowledged that his growing viewership lets him feel “that I have a responsibility to be a little more cautious, be a little more circumspect when I go after somebody to make sure we have everything covered. Because I can destroy lives. And I’m not going to do that until I’m 100% convinced that the person deserves what they get.”
O’Reilly’s on-air verbal assaults have been part of his trademark since the onetime correspondent for CBS and ABC joined the then-nascent Fox News Channel. With his elbows-out style and populist instincts, he beat out Larry King in 2002 as the most-watched cable news host, a title he has never relinquished.
“The dirty little secret of Bill’s show is people tune in who like him and people tune in who don’t like him,” said Bill Shine, executive vice president for programming.
And plenty still don’t. Liberal detractors such as Media Matters for America hammer at him daily, challenging his assertions. “I don’t think he’s changed,” said Ari Rabin-Havt, the group’s vice president of research and communications.
O’Reilly has been known to frustrate conservatives with his views just not quite as often as he does Keith Olbermann who may hate Bill more than any other person in America. And we know what Keith’s views are.
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About the author
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media. He is active on Facebook and Twitter. You can follow him @donirvine to read his latest thoughts.
18 Comments for O’Reilly’s Moderate Credentials
I know longer watch O’Reilly because he is a liberal in moderates clothing. Bill continues to close his eyes to facts about Obama and the Dems. The man has lost all integrity and many of my friends as fans because he is no longer credible. He’s become a liberal entertainer instead of the conservative watch dog he once was. Shame on you, Bill. Time to give up your show.
I stopped watching O’reilly cause his show is so boring now. Maybe it’s just me.
I quit watching his show after his pathetic interview with Obama. He’s just another sellout.
I too have stopped wathcing O’Reilly after he seems to have ‘caved’ and is now playing word games… to somewhat appease liberals and ‘seel factor gear’ He has lost a great deal of integrity and appears more enamored with “his own self envisoned media power” as a liberal entertainer instead of the conservative. Once a upon a time one could really count on “no spin” but now its all about Bill’s “spin”, to bad—agree Time to give up the “show”.
Bill is not as conservative as I would like. However, he’s about all we’ve got right now. He is one of the few commentators who still practices the great Journalist Credo: “Ask tough questions of EVERYbody, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” I wish more national news media folks would get back to those basics of Journalism. The country would be far better off.
“Pooky”
It is not that he is “not as conservative” rather he has generally stopped asking “hard follow-up’s” He used to ask “Hard Questions” and not permit them responder to wiggle, however today he appears to far more concerned with “being liked”.. I do agree with the statement position that ‘..(the) national news media folks (should) get back to those basics of Journalism..’
They’re now trying to promote O’Reilly as the “voice of reason”, while having Hannity and Beck take on the role of the hardcore conservatives that state the unpopular opinions we all think and believe, but are afraid to voice publicly. United we stand, divided we fall…
Boy you folks are so mean. When are you going to wake up and realize you are only going to die anyway.
What is it you want anyway? All I see are racist, homophobic, greedy, Repub Chistians wanting to distroy are freedoms. It was on full display last weekend.
Your ilk are fighing to repeal a health care reform bill that allows Americans to BUY HEALTH INSURANCE! WTF!!! You folks are insane.
Mean—?? there is nothing mean here, simple observations and discussions—but then such an oversimplification of a bill thats nears 3000 pages and required bribes and special deals to get “departing” folks to —AS ” .. that allows Americans to BUY HEALTH INSURANCE!…!!!” is a clear demonstration that simple observations are really YOUR forte..
This is truely disturbing. After all that has gone on..all that has been exposed and stll we get this mindset that Ratsy is displaying. What will it take? A bunch of gestapo types doing a roundup and there is nothing that he can do about it. Or, when he goes to buy insurance and the cost is sky high anyway.
I agree, O’Reilly’s show has become boring.
I gave up on Billy Boy after that pathetic interview he had with THE REV JESSE JACKSON. For weeks, months prior to the interview Billy Boy would talk about Jackson’s finances and how they were obtained. When he had him face to face did Billy Boy ask him? NOOOOOOO All Billy Boy said after the interview was……..see…now that wasn’t bad. All Billy Boy wants is to get them on his show so he can say what a great guy he is. Billy Boy feels that if they don’t come on his show they are affraid of him. What a joke and I must admit that the JOKE is now on Billy Boy.
BO is a traditional old school journalist who demands the same of other news talking heads. Most of the proceeds from the sale of Factor gear goes to worthy charities. Did you see the Rep. Weiner interview on March 24th? Bill demanded to know which gov’t agency would enforce the fines for refusal to buy ObamaCare insurance, and after Weiner ducked and dodged, BO kept hammering the question to the point where Weiner was visibly upset and almost walked off camera. Classic O’Reilly!! In Bloviation We Trust.
I saw the interview, and some of my faith in BO was restored. He had Weiner on the run! Weiner, being the dishonest politician he is though refused to answer the question. You can’t blame him though, it would’ve shown what a double-talking liar he was.
Mark Lamont Hill. Need I say more?
I feel the same way about him as a previous poster:
“I no longer watch O’Reilly because he is a liberal in moderates clothing. Bill continues to close his eyes to facts about Obama and the Dems. The man has lost all integrity and many of my friends as fans because he is no longer credible. He’s become a liberal entertainer instead of the conservative watch dog he once was. Shame on you, Bill. Time to give up your show.”
I gave up on him some months ago when I noticed more and more often he made excuses for what Obama and the Dems were doing to this country. Too much of a suck up for my taste. I only watch that show when there is one of the substitute hosts.
Can anyone tell me why FOX lends credence to Mark Lamont Hill? I have seen him all over the network including Huckabee. I , like a poster before me , thought that he had been fired. I have written to BO , Huckabee , et al and have not been given an answer.I can understand trying to give a Liberal point of view but Hill falls into the extreme end of the spectrum of Marxism. If you need a racial minority liberal point of view with intelligence and common sense , you have Juan Williams.
O’Reilly continued to use Mark Lamont “Van Jones Jr.” Hill as one of his commentators, even after Hill’s true identity was revealed here by AIM’s Cliff Kincaid. And EVEN after Rupert Murdoch, himself, said at the News Corp annual meeting that Hill was fired, and not going to be appearing on Fox News anymore. Did Bill lose the memo somewhere in the stack of his own Talking Points piles? O’Reilly is not a “moderate”, he is an Obama-apologizer, or a “BlueDog” as those cowardly, closeted-Liberals like to describe themselves in order to hide from the truth about themselves from everyone else. Geraldo and Shepard Smith have Big Bad Bill fully in their corner. JUST WAIT ….. a future Talking Points memo will appear when Obama ramps up Amnesty …. “we have to look at things from both sides so the ‘FOLKS’ can be best served.” Don’t be fooled, folks. Ratings only tell PART of the story.