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EspañolBILL O'REILLY (COMMENTATOR)
'William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr.' (born September 10, 1949)[2] is an American political commentator, and the host of the cable news program ''The O'Reilly Factor''. Prior to hosting ''The O'Reilly Factor'', O'Reilly served as anchor of the entertainment program, ''Inside Edition''.[3]
O'Reilly also hosts ''The Radio Factor'', a radio program syndicated by Westwood One, and has written six books.
Previously a registered Republican, O'Reilly re-registered as having no party affiliation in 2000. In his book ''Culture Warrior'', he identifies himself as a traditionalist and a populist.
Biography
Early life/Education
O'Reilly was born in New York City to Irish Catholic parents William and Angela O'Reilly, from Brooklyn, New York and Bergen County, New Jersey. His father was an accountant for the oil company Caltex. In 1951, his family moved to Levittown on Long Island.[4] After graduating from Chaminade High School, a private Catholic boys high school in Mineola in 1967, O'Reilly attended Marist College, a small, co-educational private (and at the time, Catholic) institution in Poughkeepsie. While at Marist, O'Reilly played punter in the National Club Football Association,[5] and was also a columnist and feature writer for the school's newspaper, ''The Circle''. An honors student, he majored in history. He spent his junior year of college abroad, attending Queen Mary College at the University of London.[6] O'Reilly received his B.A. in History in 1971. He played semi-professional baseball during this time, as a pitcher for the Brooklyn Monarchs. He unsuccessfully tried out for the New York Mets. O'Reilly later earned a masters degree in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University and another Master of Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Broadcasting career
After graduating from Marist College, O'Reilly moved to Miami, Florida at age 21, where he taught English and history at Monsignor Pace High School for two years. After leaving Miami, O'Reilly returned to school, earning a M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University in 1976. While attending Boston University, he was a reporter and columnist for various local newspapers and alternative news weeklies, including ''The Boston Phoenix''. O'Reilly did his broadcast journalism internship in Miami during this time, and was also an entertainment writer and movie critic for ''The Miami Herald''.
O'Reilly's early television news career included reporting and anchoring positions at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he also reported the weather. At WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, O'Reilly was awarded the Dallas Press Club Award for excellence in investigative reporting. He then moved to KMGH-TV in Denver, Colorado where he won a Local Emmy Award for his coverage of a skyjacking.Bill O'Reilly's Bio ''Accessed August 2006'' Get 2 Know Bill O'Reilly! Malinowski, Scoop O'Reilly also worked for KATU-TV in Portland, Oregon, as well as TV stations in Hartford, Connecticut (WFSB-TV), and in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1980, he anchored his own program on WCBS-TV in New York where he won his second Local Emmy for an investigation of corrupt city marshals. In 1982, he was promoted to the network as a CBS News correspondent and covered the wars in El Salvador and the Falkland Islands from his base in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He later left CBS over a dispute concerning the uncredited use in a report by Bob Schieffer of riot footage shot by O'Reilly's crew in Buenos Aires during the Falklands conflict. (A 1998 novel by O'Reilly, ''Those Who Trespass: A Novel of Television and Murder'', depicts a television reporter who has a similar dispute over a Falklands War report. The character proceeds to exact his revenge on network staff in a series of graphically-described murders.)[7]
In 1986, O'Reilly joined ABC News as a correspondent for ''ABC World News Tonight''.
In 1989, O'Reilly joined the nationally syndicated King World (now CBS) program ''Inside Edition'', a tabloid/gossip television program in competition with ''A Current Affair''. He started as senior correspondent and backup anchor for British TV host David Frost, and subsequently became the program's anchor after Frost's termination. In addition to being one of the first American 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 television host from a national current affairs program on the scene of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
In 1995, O'Reilly was replaced by former NBC News and CBS News anchor Deborah Norville on ''Inside Edition.'' He then enrolled at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he received a master's degree in Public Administration. After Harvard, he was hired by Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of the then startup FOX News Channel, to anchor ''The O'Reilly Report.'' The show soon moved to a new time slot, and was renamed ''The O'Reilly Factor''.
O'Reilly's radio program reaches 3.25 million-plus listeners and is carried by more than 400 radio stations.[8] Conservative magazine ''NewsMax's "Top 25 Talk Radio Host" list selected O'Reilly to the #2 spot as most influential host in the nation.[9]
Personal life
O'Reilly married Maureen E. McPhilmy, a public relations executive, in 1995. They have one daughter, Madeline, born in 1998, and a son, Spencer, born in 2003. According to an October 2005 interview in ''Newsday'', O'Reilly hired bodyguards and is very sensitive about the general public taking pictures of him, calling some of them "stealth paparazzi".[10] O'Reilly has requested that no photographs of his home or family be made public. He and his family now live in Manhasset, New York.[11]
''The O'Reilly Factor''
Main articles: The O'Reilly Factor
O'Reilly's television show, ''The O'Reilly Factor'', is routinely the highest-rated show of the three major U.S. 24-hour cable news channels Cable rantings boost ratings Johnson, Peter (CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC). The show is taped late in the afternoon at a studio in New York City and airs every weekday on the FOX News Channel at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
American Red Cross and the United Way
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, O'Reilly devoted substantial time on his television show and wrote pieces alleging that the United Way of America and American Red Cross failed to deliver millions of dollars in donated money, raised by the organizations in the name of the disaster, to the families of those killed in the attacks.[12][13]
O'Reilly asserted that the organizations misrepresented their intentions for the money being raised by not distributing all of the 9/11 relief fund to the victims.[14] Actor George Clooney defended the United Way from O'Reilly's criticisms of a telethon that raised $129.5 million, plus an additional $12 million in CD and DVD sales, according to Jeannette Reed, spokeswoman for the United Way of New York City. The funds were given to victims and surviving families in the form of cash assistance, she said. Congressional hearings were called on the matter and an investigation by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer took place. Bernadette Healey, the president of the Red Cross, resigned shortly thereafter.[15] In sworn testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee in November 2001, Congressman J.D. Hayworth asserted that media pressure, most notably from O'Reilly, helped cause the Red Cross to increase payments to affected people and helped cause other charities to participate in an oversight database established by Spitzer.[16]
Political beliefs and points of view
Main articles: Politics of Bill O'Reilly
''The O'Reilly Factor'' is a show which focuses on news related to politics most of the time, which O'Reilly then offers commentary about. Given the amount of time O'Reilly has been on the air, it is not surprising that his beliefs and views have been well chronicled on a variety of subjects.
He has recently adopted the term "traditionalist" when describing his points of view on various topics that are in line with both conservative and liberal positions. In an interview with NPR, O'Reilly stated that:
''"I'm not a political guy in the sense that I embrace an ideology. To this day I'm an independent thinker, an independent voter, I'm a registered independent ... there are certain fundamental things that this country was founded upon that I respect and don't want changed. That separates me from the secularists who want a complete overhaul of how the country is run."''
Interview
Controversy and criticism
Over the years, there have been several controversial issues highlighted in O'Reilly's print and broadcast work. He has drawn criticism from others including Al Franken, Chamillionaire, Michael Savage, Bill Moyers,[17] George Clooney, Ludacris, Joe Scarborough, Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, Snoop Dogg, Media Matters for America, Nas, David Letterman, Michael Kinsley, Akon, and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, usually in response to criticism by him or disputes of his factual accuracy.
Sexual harassment controversy
On October 13, 2004, O'Reilly filed a preemptive lawsuit against ''O'Reilly Factor'' producer Andrea Mackris, her lawyer Benedict P. Morelli, and Morelli's law firm for extortion, contending Mackris had privately demanded more than $60 million (USD) to settle a claim of sexual harassment. Morelli did not deny that they had demanded the settlement prior to filing the complaint, but did deny the allegations of extortion.[18][19][20][21]
Later that same day, Mackris filed a complaint of sexual harassment against O'Reilly, claiming that O'Reilly had made numerous references to "phone sex, vibrators, threesomes, masturbation, the loss of his virginity, and other sexual fantasies".[18] The details of some of these fantasies resembled scenes in a book written by O'Reilly, ''Those Who Trespass''. The specificity with which Ms. Mackris recounted O'Reilly's telephone calls led many to believe that she had taped the calls. The existence of these tapes, and O'Reilly's desire that they never be made public, were seen by many as the reason for the prompt settlement of the suit in Mackris's favor. According to many accounts, O'Reilly paid many millions to make the lawsuit go away.[19][20][21] The complaint also sought additional damages and described alleged actions of retaliation by Fox, ''et al.''
Both cases were settled out of court and all parties agreed to keep the terms of the settlement confidential.
Biography
In January 2007, St. Martin's Press released a biography ''The Man Who Would Not Shut Up: The Rise of Bill O'Reilly'', written by longtime Newsday TV critic Marvin Kitman. By all appearances, O'Reilly initially authorized the book: working with Kitman and giving him 29 interviews. Kitman believes that O'Reilly was going to help promote and publicize the book until, just prior to publication, they had a disagreement over the inclusion of a chapter covering the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against O'Reilly in 2004 (O'Reilly also filed a countersuit and both have since been settled).[26] But instead of promoting the book, Kitman asserts that O'Reilly intimidated FOX News reporters to keep them from giving him interviews.[27] Despite their disagreement, several critics think that Kitman presents his subject in an even handed way.[28][29]
Books and other media
O'Reilly's ''Culture Warrior''
O'Reilly writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column that appears in hundreds of newspapers, including the ''New York Post'' and the ''Chicago Sun-Times''.[30]
★ ''Those Who Trespass''. Novel.
Bancroft Press, April 1998; reprint, Broadway Books, February 2004. 288 pages. ISBN 0-9631246-8-4.
★ ''. Non-fiction.
Broadway Books, September 2000; reprint, Broadway Books, March 2002. 224 pages. ISBN 0-7679-0528-8.
Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.[31]
★ ''The No Spin Zone''. Non-fiction.
Broadway Books, October 2001; reprint, Broadway Books, March 2003. 208 pages. ISBN 0-7679-0848-1.
Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.31
★ ''Who's Looking Out For You?''. Non-fiction.
Broadway Books, September 2003; reprint, Broadway Books, September 2004. 224 pages. ISBN 0-7679-1379-5.
Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.31
★ ''. Non-fiction.
HarperEntertainment, September 2004; reprint, Harper Paperbacks, September 2005. 208 pages. ISBN 0-06-054424-4.
Co-authored with Charles Flowers. Best-selling non-fiction children's book of 2005.[32]
★ ''Culture Warrior''. Non-fiction.
Broadway Books, September 2006. 240 pages. ISBN 0-7679-2092-9.
Reached #1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.31
Achieved more than one million copies in print in its first three months.
References
1. Forbes, ''Bill O'Reilly, The Top 100 Celebrities''. Accessed January 8, 2007.
2. Pragoff, Cat. "Fox News' Bill O'Reilly was in classroom before newsroom", ''New Hampshire Union Leader'', February 9, 2005. Page D10
3. O'Reilly's Fox News biography
4. O’Reilly and the Levittown Issue: Answered
5. "Campus Stuff" (''The Circle'') Duffy, Don
6. 2001 Commencement Program Marist
7. "Fear Factor - Bill O’Reilly’s baroque period", Nicholas Lemann, ''The New Yorker'', March 20, 2006
8. The State of the News Media 2007.Annual Report on American Journalism,2007.
9. Influential Talk Radio Hosts.NewsMax.com,October, 2006.
10. "What's hate got to do with it?", , Verne, Gay, Newsday, 2005,
11. Bill O'Reilly Birdseye, cryptome.org
12. "O'Reilly rips celeb 'phonies'", Richard Johnson with Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson, PapillonsArtPalace.com, November 2, 2001
13. "Fight the power", Bill O'Reilly, WorldNetDaily, December 13, 2001
14. "Red Cross Diverts Donations From Sept. 11 Victims", Kevin Curran, NewsMax.com, October 31, 2001
15. "Red Cross President Resigns Under Pressure From Board", Grant Williams, Philanthropy.com, October 26, 2001
16. Opening Statement of the Hon. J.D. Hayworth, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Hearing on Response by Charitable Organizations to the Recent Terrorist Attacks, Committee on Ways & Means, November 8, 2001
17. Media types trade shots
18. O'Reilly Hit With Sex Harass Suit
19. O'Reilly: Female Aide in M Extort Bid
20. O'Reilly, Accuser Air Their Cases Howard Kurtz
21. Bill O'Reilly, Producer Settle Harassment Suit Howard Kurtz
22. O'Reilly Hit With Sex Harass Suit
23. O'Reilly: Female Aide in M Extort Bid
24. O'Reilly, Accuser Air Their Cases Howard Kurtz
25. Bill O'Reilly, Producer Settle Harassment Suit Howard Kurtz
26. O'Reilly bio may surprise fans and foes Frank Lovece Accessed at re-publication on Topix.net
27. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17419934/
28. (''no title'') Staff review of O'Reilly's biography by M. Kitman Michael Eshleman
29. Nonfiction Reviews: Week of 11/6/2006
30. BillOReilly.com, ''Newspaper Column List'', Accessed January 8, 2007.
31. New York Times Best Seller; Number Ones Listing; Non Fiction By Date, Hawes.com
32. Bill's Bio
External links
★ Bill O'Reilly's Official Website
★ ''The O'Reilly Factor'' website
★ Bill O'Reilly calls himself 'T-Warrior'
★ Content analysis of O'Reilly's rhetoric finds spin to be a 'factor'
★ O'Reilly's syndicated newspaper column
★ List of radio stations streaming the O'Reilly Factor
★ Seth Ackerman and Peter Hart, "Bill O'Reilly's Sheer O'Reillyness: Don't call him conservative-- but he is" FAIR (July/Aug 2001)
★ ''Mackris v. O'Reilly'' Court Documents
★ ''Mackris v. O'Reilly,'' An oratorio based upon the lawsuit, composed by Igor Keller
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