O'Reilly goes on 60 Minutes....

The BBQ Pit
1

…and nobody on SDMB comments on it.

Well, I guess it was a non-event because he didn’t go crazy, or flounce off the set in a rage, or even threaten to kick Mike Wallace’s ass.

He did insist that he’s an Independent (even though Al Franken has proved this to be a lie), and that he hasn’t made up his mind about whether he will vote for Bush. Bill allowed that he thinks Kerry’s a patriot and what the hostile Swift Boaters did made him very sad.

I cannot tolerate O’Reilly, so I don’t watch him (or Fox in general), so I was surprised to learn that he is

for gun control

against the death penalty

for civil unions for gays and everybody else

for gay adoptions - but as a last resort. I.e., it is better for a child to be in a nice loving gay home rather than being condemned to life in the system

pro environmental protection

He thinks Rumsfeld’s an idiot who had no clue on winning the peace and should resign

Although he makes $10 million per year - through TV, radio, book sales, etc., Bill likes to see himself as working class guy. And to bolster this view he compares himself to, of all people, Maria Shriver!!!

He tells how Ms Shriver started out in broadcast in Los Angeles (presumably in some large radio station in a posh position befitting her wealth and connections), while good old working class Bill O’Reilly began his career in some pis ant station in Scranton.

Fact is, said Mike Wallace, Shriver started out in a low level job in Philadelphia.

Anyway, the universally persecuted Bill O’Reilly said he will never win any broadcast awards because the “intelligentsia” see him as misguided, a barbarian, a Hun.

Just thought I’d pass it on.

2

[QUOTE=AntiochusAnyway, the universally persecuted Bill O’Reilly said he will never win any broadcast awards because the “intelligentsia” see him as misguided, a barbarian, a Hun.[/QUOTE]

Well, nobody’s ever accused me of being a member of the “intelligentsia,” but that’s how I see him too.

3

I was impressed that he managed to seem link reasonable person. The cynic in me says that he was just playing to the 60 Minutes audience.

His “I’m just a working man” shtick was tiresome and ridiculous, but I guess that plays well with the Fox audience. And I don’t believe for a second that he only said “shut up” six times. He must have said that more than six in his attack on Jeremy Glick alone.

4

He is against the death penalty because he doesn’t feel it is brutal enough though.

Bill has never been working class. His dad made the equivalent of 70-95k-esqe a year in todays dollars when Bill was growing up. I think Bill went to private school too.

5

Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society.

6

If they make a movie about him, though, they should cast John de Lancie, because the voices are near-identical.

7

Wow - great observation - that is true, but I have never considered it…

He seems so much more about “style” (such as it is) instead of substance. He seems to cater to an audience that wants to see righteous indignation and a lot of “SHUT UPS!!!” over the course of an interview, not get tangled up in fact and counter-fact. The fact that he plays to that so much is what puts me off about him.

8

O’Reilly is far and away the best interviewer on television today. His show oftentimes literally gets ten times the ratings of it’s 8PM timeslot competitors on the other cable news channels.

O’Reilly has a very common sense approach to issues that resonates with most viewers. He doesn’t allow guests to dodge questions, although he has softened on this somewhat because you need to to get big interviews. But, he still isn’t at all a softball interviewer like Larry King.

For some reason that is a mystery to both O’Reilly and myself, he is hated by the left. I’ve seen people say that he’s “worse” than Rush. I just don’t get this. His views on issues are very middle of the road, as the OP points out. He is not a partisan one way or the other. He is a bit to the right only when compared with the old media networks and leftist papers like the NYTimes. I think it’s a simple as this, combined with his massive success, has made him hated by those on the far left.

9

Ratings to me are not a clear indicator of quality. How many bad reality shows get good ratings, while critically acclaimed shows (e.g., Freaks and Geeks, Buffy, etc…) don’t?

I agree that he isn’t a softballer like Larry King. But don’t you think he comes across as a bully? Can’t there be a strong questioner that doesn’t have to yell SHUT UP!

I don’t consider myself “far left” but certainly Democratic. As I have stated in this thread, I don’t appreciate his bullying style. Further, from the various cites I have heard about, he seems to distort the truth to suit his needs at times, in a way that comes across as…I don’t know - deceptive?

10

But, Wordman you don’t actually watch O’Reilly, do you?

He is on the radio for three hours a day and is on television for one hour a day. It is extremely rare for him to yell at someone to shut up. The times that he has done it (that I have seen) are when the interviewer isn’t being responsive, or allowing O’Reilly to speak.

If you only exposure to O’Reilly is a couple clips being circulated on the internet where he is yelling at an unruly guest, then sure he looks like a bully or deceptive. But, watch the show. You’ll find this is not often the case. Keep in mind, that O’Reilly doesn’t pretend to be a straight news man. He has an opinion on everything, and oftentimes it is a conservative one (but often a liberal one too). He expects his audience to already know the days news, and he’s there to analyze it not present it factually.

This is a great week to watch, BTW. O’Reilly interviewed Bush and is airing it over three days: Monday - Wednesday. His show is on at 8PM and then again at 11PM. Then, he is doing a special on Thursday at 8pm, which will lead up to the 9pm Bush Kerry debates.

11

Completely irrelevant. If there are 100 television views watching 5 programs (let’s say Programs A, B, C and D are “leftist media” and Program E is O’Reilly); 40 people watch Program E, 10 watch Program A, 15 watch Program B, 25 watch Program C and 20 watch Program D, O’Reilly is beating his closest competion 2:1, but the combined competition is beating *him * 3:2. It’s all relative.

Many times, he is. He’s exhibited himself to be a complete nutcase on several occassions. Okay, okay, that doesn’t happen every day, but why does that excuse that behavior when it does occur? He’s cried wolf far too many times to be credible.

12

Dammit.

Program C should read “15”. And it’s “viewers”. Sorry for the confusion.

:smack:

13

You’re right Debaser - I don’t watch. Your statements are fair. I guess I will say a couple of things:

  • Hearing him interview Bush would be interesting, regardless of political leanings, so thank you for pointing that out.

  • Your quote above feels like it is enough for me - if he can come off like a bully or deceptive, I am inclined to not like his style.

  • I heard him interviewed on NPR - the infamous Fresh Air interview where he walked off - and, frankly, he came across like a twit. IMHO, Terry Gross was asking smart, appropriate questions in a forthright manner - in other words, not soft-balling, which you state you don’t like - and not yelling at the guest, but staying persistent. And O’Reilly wouldn’t answer the questions directly, or acknowledge mis-stated/deceptive remarks that he had made.

Again, leaving his politics completely aside, his style puts me off. Maybe it only surfaces occasionally, but there you have it…

14

He regularly beats both the CNN and MSNBC ratings combined. (As does most of FNC’s evening lineup.) It is hardly unusual for him to have double the number of viewers that CNN and MSNBC, combined, have.

15

Fair enough. I think it’s really interesting (in a non-partisan view) how loyal people are to Fox News. Several conservative friends of mine watch religiously, while my more liberal friends don’t watch news on TV at all. But point taken, thanks.

16

I got a chuckle out of the line-up on 60 Minutes:

1st segment - Profile of a Terrorist
2nd segment - Profile of a Con Man
3rd segment - Profile of Bill O’Reilly

:stuck_out_tongue:

17

O’Reilly doesn’t allow guests to dodge questions? Heck, unless they agree with him, he doesn’t let guests answer questions.

He talked about starting out in Scranton, in coal mining country, “my people.” O’Reilly likes to pretend he came up from poverty, but he was a middle class kid in a nice neighborhood in Westbury. He went to a private school.

He doesn’t like the Swift Boat Vets? Not from the quotes I’ve seen.
www.mediamatters.org

18

I don’t see how you can say with a straight face that ratings are “completely irrelevant” unless O’Reilly is beating all of his competition combined! Plus, as
Brutus pointed out, he actually does beat all of them combined on a regular basis. (This is also after years of MSNBC and CNN trying to find an imitator of his style and politics: Dennis Miller, Phil Donahue, John McEnroe, Chris Matthews, etc.)

This is simply not true. Entire books have been written bashing O’Reilly and there are dozens of web sites devoted to trashing him. In all of that pile of noise, there is nothing substantial to pin on him. Just because every time O’Reilly gets mentioned on the SDMB a dozen hyper-liberal posters come along to call him imaginative names like “O’LIEly” doesn’t make it so.

Me and most other viewers (based on his ratings) consider O’Reilly to be very credible. I trust O’Reilly to deliver factual content far more than say CBS news or the New York Times, both of which have had recent scandals which dwarf any possible wrongdoings by O’Reilly or Fox news.

19

I read a thread on that on the SDMB, then I went and listened to the interview online. IMHO, Terry Gross was extremely hostile to O’Reilly. It wasn’t until after 20 minutes into the interview that she asked a single question that wasn’t insulting, IIRC. O’Reilly did his best to fend her off, but eventually just left. I don’t blame him.

20

And as you’ll see above, I retracted my claim. Thanks for paying attention.

You mean like the time he insisted that the New York Times Best Seller’s list was wrong, and his book was currently not being outsold by Franken’s? Yeah, that was the very picture of sanity. Not the mention the bit featured on “Outfoxed”. “Simply not true”? Right.