Boston Globe - magazine - December 1, 2002
The Meanest Man on Television
Bill O'Reilly, host of the cable news show The O'Reilly Factor, is an arrogant, controlling know-it-all. And that's exactly why he's so popular.
By Neil Swidey, Globe Staff, 12/1/2002
In the late 1980s, Bill O'Reilly was a second-tier correspondent at ABC News, scrapping to get airtime. He walked with the same swagger he has today, but back then no one took it seriously. A good day was when Peter Jennings handed him the trifling task of doing the 30-second afternoon news breaks.
So on October 16, when anchorman Jennings wrapped up his evening newscast and headed over to the Fox News Channel studios outside New York's Times Square to be interviewed by his former underling, it was yet another sign of how far O'Reilly has come.
Like so many of the guests on The O'Reilly Factor, Jennings was there to pump a new book. That O'Reilly's nightly show - the highest rated in cable news - moves merchandise at Amazon is no secret in the publishing industry. There's no way it could be; O'Reilly boasts about it every time someone plugging a book appears before him. When the ever-urbane Jennings, in a brown blazer and brown-and-white tie, settled into his chair, O'Reilly smiled broadly. For most people, that delicious, how-the-tables-have-turned moment would have been enough. O'Reilly is not like most people. In terms of competitiveness, he's a different species.
He quickly forced Jennings into an uncomfortable zone, badgering the Canadian native to explain a poll showing that 84 percent of our neighbors to the north partly blame the United States for September 11. He pestered Jennings to pronounce which is better, "socialistic" Canada or "capitalistic" America.
"If you talk to Canadians - " Jennings began.
"I'm talking to you," O'Reilly interrupted.
When O'Reilly said the point of Jennings's visit was obviously to sell books, the newsman took offense. "It isn't about selling the book," Jennings said. "It's about having had a wonderful time doing the book."
O'Reilly smirked. "Yeah, but nobody cares whether you had a wonderful time doing the book."
Then O'Reilly moved to his burning line of questioning, which, of course, centered on him. "Here I am, not nearly as erudite as you or as experienced as you, shooting my mouth off every night, analyzing the news. . . . Doesn't it drive you crazy to sit there like a well-dressed robot and not be able to give your opinion?"
O'Reilly would ask the same question, with almost the same phrasing, four times. Three times, Jennings said no, unequivocally no. He tried explaining the importance to the democratic process, with so many loud voices out there, of having half an hour of balanced news each night. After the fourth time, Jennings pulled his body close to the small round table between them and just as quickly leaned way back in his chair. Then he gave in.
"Do you mean does it frustrate me sometimes that I can't - " Jennings started to say.
"Yes!" O'Reilly thundered.
Jennings: "Of course it does."
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