| The O'reilly Factor |
Article Index for The |
Website Links For Oreilly Factor |
Information AboutThe O'reilly Factor |
|
''The O'Reilly Factor'' is a show on Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly that discusses current political and social issues with guests from both sides 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 his 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, with O'Reilly often getting into heated arguments with guests. While he tends to turn some people away from his show with his brash attitude, he has also attracted millions of viewers with his distinctive, heavy-hitting Interview ing style. He claims that his show is a "no Spin zone" and that "the spin stops here," though many observers from both sides of the political spectrum consider O'Reilly (and his show) for the most part Conservative in viewpoint. O'Reilly can also be compassionate at times, especially when speaking to victims of Crime . O'Reilly ends each episode of ''The Factor'' by reading mail sent in by viewers, which is usually equally divided between those that like him and those that hate him. Commonly, both letters accusing O'Reilly of having a Left-wing Bias and letters accusing him of having a Right-wing bias will be included in the batch. Many times that may include an extreme right, extreme left, and a more neutral point of view of the subject. Despite the mix of views in the letters selected for on-air reading, columnists and news broadcasters routinely call him a conservative Pundit . However, he denies this. 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 PM Eastern Standard Time , although some guests are interviewed before the "live to tape" period and are slotted in the program as appropriate. O'Reilly and his producers discuss potential topics twice a week. {Link without Title} 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. Guests dispute whether or not the show is edited. O'Reilly's producers deny that the program is edited after it appears on tape, but some guests have noted that interviews are edited after taping, mostly if the interviews exceed the length of a program (43 minutes when commercials and news breaks are added). [http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A149616 [http://www.billoreilly.com/audienceletters;jsessionid=E6A7BB766D6BF7005C74537CFC7437CF] 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.
Occasionally, the following segments appear:
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. Vocabulary After reading the viewer's e-mails, O'Reilly usually ends by encouraging the viewers to contact him, but requests them to keep their comments pithy and not to '''bloviate''' (adding with tongue in cheek: "That is my job"). O'Reilly continuously uses words that are out of the standard vocabulary of the average viewer, telling them to "run to the dictionary." Opinions on O’Reilly’s use of such "vocabulary" words range from enjoyment to hatred. Some viewers enjoy his use of words out of the mainstream by allowing them to expand their own vocabularies. However, others resent them, believing he is only using such words to prop himself up by appearing more intelligent than his audience. To this end, it is worth noting that he tends to use the same handful of words repeatedly. Below is a list of known words used by Bill O'Reilly:
REGULAR GUESTS
FREQUENT TOPICS
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 both 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. The O'Reilly Factor has also been spoofed on Saturday Night Live by Darrell Hammond and on Mad TV by Michael McDonald . ALLEGATIONS OF BIAS In his book, ''The O'Reilly Factor'', Bill O'Reilly wrote: "You might be wondering if I'm beliefs. These include his stances on American foreign policy (the war in Iraq ), support of Supply-side Economics , and furthering restrictions on immigration. On some issues, particularly the issue of illegal immigration, he is opposed to the policies of the current Bush administration, although most self-described conservatives disagree with the Bush administration on this issue themselves. {Link without Title} During discussions about controversial subjects, The O'Reilly Factor typically features guests with opposing viewpoints. Regardless of Mr. O'Reilly's assesment 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" (or when he disagrees with) the subject, and he often interjects his opinion during the debate. O'Reilly acknowledges his show is an editorial program rather than a strictly neutral news report. {Link without Title} Regardless of the content of the show, O'Reilly always presents an equal number of letters from conservatives accusing him of being too liberal, and from liberals accusing him of being too conservative. It is unknown whether this equal proportion 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. There are numerous documented controversies over O'Reilly's current and previous ties to various conservative political organizations, including the issues. Some claim the show has a tendency to exclude guests who are neither Republican nor Democrat, thus showing O'Reilly's bias in favor of the has been a guest during both his 2000 and 2004 campaigns for president and also after the 9/11 attacks. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} On Bill O'Reilly's off days, the show is guest-hosted by openly right-of-center or sometimes outright conservative Fox News personalities like John Kasich , Tony Snow , and John Gibson , and rarely hosted by a liberal (Geraldo Rivera being the exception). This adds to the perception that Fox News Channel considers The O'Reilly Factor to be a conservative show, and tries to maintain this image through the show's guest hosts. PEOPLE WHO HAVE "DODGED" 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. O'Reilly may say they are "hiding under their desk" or "dodging" or may just say the invitee declined. He has even referred to them as cowards at times. Some guests may have initially not gone on the show but then end up appearing later. Some that have been invited but have not gone on include:
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|