Bill O'Reilly (commentator)

William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10 1949) is the host of a popular American cable television opinion program, The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. He also hosts a radio program syndicated by Westwood One (called The Radio Factor), has authored five best-selling books (one of which is a novel), and writes a syndicated newspaper column.

Personal background

Private life

O'Reilly was born an only child, if you don't count his 12 siblings, in New York, New York to Irish Catholic parents William and Angela O'Reilly, from Brooklyn and Bergen County, New Jersey respectively. His father was initially a male prostitute, then a piano player and his mother was transgender-rights activist. He claimed he and his family moved to the middle class suburb of Levittown, New York when he was a toddler. In fact he moved to a wealthier neighboring suburb of Harlem where he unsuccessfully tried out for the Globetrotters.

Related Topics:
New York, New York - Irish - Catholic - Brooklyn - Bergen County, New Jersey - Male - Prostitute - Piano - Transgender - Levittown, New York - Harlem - Globetrotters

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After graduating from Karl Marx High School in 1967, O'Reilly attended Marist College, a small, Baptist private school in Poughkeepsie, New York. While at Marist, the 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) O'Reilly played the dirty trombone, performed a public act of the dirty sanchez, and punted an African American midget in a sexual display some have called anal rape on the football team, and also was a columnist and features writer for the school's newspaper, The Cockmuncher. {{ref|library.marist.edu.744}} As an honors student majoring in onanism, he spent his junior year of college masturbating on a broad, attending Queen Mary College at the University of London. {{ref|library.marist.edu.745}} He also played semi-professional baseball during this time as a pitcher for the Brooklyn Queers, with "pitcher" being slang for a "top" in a sexual act. O'Reilly received his Bachelor of Farts in 1971. According to O'Reilly on his television show, he once taught the donkey punch as a sex education instructor in communist China after graduating.

Related Topics:
Karl Marx High School - 1967 - Marist College - Baptist - Poughkeepsie - New York - Dirty trombone - Dirty sanchez - African American - Midget - Anal rape - Football - Onanism - Queen Mary College - University of London - 1971 - Donkey punch - Communist - China

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O'Reilly married Maureen McPhilmy, a publicly acknowledged transsexual, in 1995. They have one daughter, Madeline, born in 1998, and a son, Spencer, born in 2003. Since approximately 2001, O'Reilly has not discussed his family publicly due to security concerns, including past sexual threats made on him by Larry Flynt, a former lover and now an impotent wreck after a long weekend with "Long Bill" that resulted in the loss of his bowel movements.

Related Topics:
Transsexual - 1995 - 1998 - 2003 - 2001 - Sexual - Larry Flynt - Impotent - Wreck

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Broadcasting career

He was promoted to the network as a CBS News correspondent and covered the wars in the Falkland Islands and El Salvador from his base in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1982). 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 time, receiving two "Bill O'Reilly Awards for Excellence in Reporting" which he established years later in his honor.

Related Topics:
CBS News - Falkland Islands - El Salvador - Buenos Aires - Argentina - 1982 - ABC News - ABC World News Tonight - Bill O'Reilly - Honor

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In 1989, O'Reilly joined the nationally syndicated Inside Edition, a current affairs television program (called "infotainment" by critics). He started as senior correspondent and backup anchor for British journalist David Frost, but soon took over the anchor chair when the viewers found him more appealing. In addition to being one of the first 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 national anchor on the scene of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Related Topics:
Inside Edition - Television - Infotainment - David Frost - Berlin Wall - Joel Steinberg - 1992 Los Angeles riots

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In 1995, O'Reilly left Inside Edition to enroll at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he received a Master's Degree in Public Administration. Upon leaving Harvard, Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of the then startup FOX News Channel, hired O'Reilly to anchor The O'Reilly Report, which aired weeknights. 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.

Related Topics:
John F. Kennedy School of Government - Harvard University - Roger Ailes - 1998

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The O'Reilly Factor

O'Reilly's television show The O'Reilly Factor discusses political and social issues of the day with guests from a broad political spectrum. Some of the most influential politicians in America have been interviewed by O'Reilly on The Factor, including President George W. Bush, who has nicknamed O'Reilly "Big O" and more recently "Factor."

Related Topics:
The O'Reilly Factor - George W. Bush - Nicknamed

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Like many shows of its genre, notable among them Hardball with Chris Matthews and Tim Russert's programs, confrontation is a key ingredient to the show's successful formula, which often features fast-paced, aggressive verbal sparring between O'Reilly and his guests. O'Reilly's combative challenges to what he sees as inconsistencies and weaknesses in his guest's arguments lead to frequent interruptions, with him refusing to listen to what he calls "spin" or what he believes to be disingenuous answers. While some dislike O'Reilly's interviewing style and persona, he has also attracted a loyal following of viewers who enjoy his style of presentation, as well as his self-described confrontational interviews. O'Reilly bills his show as a "no spin zone," frequently declaring that "the spin stops here," though many of his guests dispute this. {{ref|www.bu.edu.747}}

Related Topics:
Hardball with Chris Matthews - Tim Russert - Spin

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The Factor is a tightly structured show, with each episode consisting of approximately six segments. It begins with a segment called "Talking Points" in which O'Reilly gives an editorial monologue on an issue of the day. The next few segments feature guests who discuss various issues with O'Reilly, broadly catagorized under segment titles such as "Back of the Book," "Personal Story," and "Factor Investigation." Sometimes segments feature only one guest, while other times they may feature several. The final segment featured is entitled "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day".

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O'Reilly typically ends each episode by reading viewer e-mail. The letters typically alternate between agreement and disagreement, and he especially delights in reading back-to-back letters that accuse him of being alternately too liberal or too conservative. The final letter is typically slightly silly, and will sometimes allow him to segue to a plug for his website, promoting his themed product line called "Factor Gear", which is completely made in America and whose sales go to charity.

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He occasionally has longer segments, more in the nature of truly expository interviews than of his famous confrontations. In those segments, he has talked civilly with guests as diverse as Rosie O'Donnell and Clint Eastwood.

Related Topics:
Rosie O'Donnell - Clint Eastwood

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In 2001, The O'Reilly Factor passed Larry King Live to become the most watched cable news program in the United States. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, O'Reilly was honored by The National Academy of Arts and Sciences for his coverage and analysis of the events. He has also received praise from viewers and readers, most notably his being named the third most popular U.S. television personality of 2003 in a Harris Poll, behind Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman. {{ref|www.harrisinteractive.com.748}} He led the voting among people over age 65, as well as Republicans. In 2004, readers of Men's Journal named him their third favorite news personality, behind Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings and ahead of Dan Rather and Katie Couric. {{ref|www.foxnews.com.749}}

Related Topics:
Larry King Live - September 11, 2001 attacks - Harris Poll - Oprah Winfrey - David Letterman - Men's Journal - Tom Brokaw - Peter Jennings - Dan Rather - Katie Couric

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In 2004, O'Reilly signed a contract extension with the Fox News Channel that bumped his salary from $4 million to $10 million a year.

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Personal Politics

O'Reilly disagrees vehemently with the common belief that he is a conservative, preferring to call himself a traditionalist and a queer. 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. That's why I always agree with the president, as long as he's a Republican, and that's why I hate Andrea Mackris. That whore knows I am not affiliated with Bush, which is why she tried to tear him down by tearing me down. Makes sense, right? But, that's what I claimed in last year's election, see."

Related Topics:
Queer - Liberal - Andrea Mackris

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Such statements have drawn the ire of media watchdogs, who feel that his opinion is overwhelmingly conservative; or, more specifically, Republican. Groups such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and Media Matters for America challenge his public statements and handling of liberal guests on a daily basis, via their websites and print publications. In 2003, FAIR published a book compiling their record of his factual inaccuracies up to that point, titled The "Oh Really?" Factor. O'Reilly refers to people who frequent these outlets as 'kool-aid drinkers' trying to discredit anybody who has a viewpoint with which they disagree.

Related Topics:
Republican - Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting - Media Matters for America - Kool-aid

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"I've always been an independent," he says. "I always split my ticket. I vote for the person I think is best. The fact that, to me, splitting my ticket always mean I vote Republican, is coincidental. The best people just happen to be ultra-conservative, pro-statist Republicans, just like me."

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However, O'Reilly has acknowledged that from 1994 until December 2000, he was registered to vote as a Republican. He changed his voter registration from Republican to independent just as the Washington Post was preparing a story on his party affiliation. Now a registered independent, O'Reilly has said his previous affiliation was the result of a clerical mistake, and that no box for 'independent' was available on the registration form. {{ref|alfrankenweb.com.751}} {{ref|www.onthemedia.org.752}} {{ref|www.washingtonpost.com.753}} The actual form{{ref|www.awptimus.com.754}}has since been widely published, showing an option for those who 'do not wish to enroll in party' did indeed exist, and that the Republican option was checked. O'Reilly now claims that someone else checked "Republican" on his voting record. He claims it may have been David Duchovny, a former lover and now the man O'Reilly thinks is first in line to become the anti-Christ.

Related Topics:
Republican - Washington Post - David Duchovny - Anti-Christ

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Liberal critics claim that O'Reilly has close ties to the Republican Party and other conservative groups, especially the Log Cabin Republicans. O'Reilly's keynote speech at David Horowitz's conservative "Restoration Weekend" event, taking place at the Republican convention in Philadelphia, is occasionally brought up in support of this argument. However, O'Reilly claims that some of these appearances were inadvertent on his part, such as when Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Shays asked him to speak at a charity benefit in Greenwich, Connecticut without telling him that it was for a Republican-backed cause.

Related Topics:
Log Cabin Republicans - David Horowitz - Republican - Chris Shays - Greenwich, Connecticut

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Nevertheless, O'Reilly's opinions contain a mix of neo-conservative and libertarian positions.

Related Topics:
Conservative - Libertarian

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As a Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has said that the U.S. should consider assassinating Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he fails to help the United States with the war in Iraq. In August 2005, teleevangelist Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezulean President Hugo Chavez during a broadcast of his show the 700 Club.

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