Comments on: It’s Bill O’Reilly Versus Geraldo Rivera

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 02:00:10 +0000

I totally agree with nicrivera on most points, but saying that he’s jumped the shark seems a bit off. That is determined by ratings alone and I’m sure O’Reilly is going to be with us for the foreseeable future.

By: kritter

kritter — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:32:08 +0000

Hot emotions=hot ratings on cable tv. It is the age in which we live. The reasoned debate is quickly becoming a dinosaur. It also seems to be a vicious circle to me, because the more we listen to OR and his ilk, the more polarized we become, and the more we support extremists in our parties. Those extremists win, and enact polarizing policy , leading to more irrational, emotional rants from our pundits, leading to higher cable ratings.

By: nicrivera

nicrivera — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:41:13 +0000

It’s official. Bill O’Reilly has jumped the shark. The fact that his show remains the highest in terms of viewership ratings does not speak well for this country.

O’Reilly is a metaphor for pretty much everything that’s wrong with today’s media. It’s loud. It’s obnoxious. It’s sensationalistic. It constantly makes every issue into a conservative versus liberal (or traditionalist versus secular progressive) argument. It’s selective and misleading in its reporting. It plays on people’s prejudices and fears. And it goes out of its way to exclude independent points of view that don’t fit within the liberal versus conservative paradigm.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:46:04 +0000

holy crap i have never seen billo so pissed. and other-daniel, i don’t think that was staged. i mean, i’ve seen billo go off on people before… but i never saw his face in such a contorted state of rage before. that stuff is tough to fake.

that being said, given these two’s argument over the bronx fire… i’m sure fox put them together with the expectation that they’d get in to it.

o’reilly’s lost it. not that he ever had it. but his smug look of i’m-totally-the-best-guy-ever has been replaced by impotent frustration.

By: Pug

Pug — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:20:43 +0000

Mr. O’Reilly’s mama didn’t teach him much in the way of manners, did she? My mother would be so embarrassed if I ever acted like that, even in private.

By: Daniel Berczik

Daniel Berczik — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:04:35 +0000

Joe,

Leaving aside any calm assessment of our boys’ journalistic creds (if that’s possible) this can be one of two things.

Either it’s 1) a staged battle for ratings or it’s 2) emblematic of what is happening further out in the country.

I want to believe 1), mainly to appease my cynical side, but anecdotal evidence points me to 2). I have witnessed generally intelligent and polite people suddenly devolve into screaming, seething masses at a seemingly innocuous statement. This often happens, depending on the personalities and relationships attendant, but in the years since September 2001 I have detected a general shortening of tempers and an impulse to plaster those who disagree with us as not merely wrong but stupid, evil, genocidal, suicidal… you name it. And honestly, I see it everywhere.

We are like a huge engine running on loose fittings.