The Oh Really? Factor

"Caution: You’re about to enter a no-spin zone" is the warning with which Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly kicks off his no-holds-barred cable news program The O’Reilly Factor every night. O’Reilly is the reigning king of cable news, with a huge lead in the ratings, two best-selling books, and a nationally syndicated radio program.

O’Reilly’s "no-spin" motto is clever marketing—but who’s keeping track of O’Reilly’s own spin? From his support for Bush’s tax cuts and the war with Iraq to his attacks on everything from National Public Radio to "welfare mothers," O’Reilly often contradicts himself and consistently concocts evidence to support his conservative talking points.

His misguided opinions, stated as facts, are often simply wrong, such as his claim that the U.S. "gives far and away more tax money to foreign countries than anyone else . . . Nobody else even comes close to us" (per capita the U.S. is near the bottom of the list for developed countries). Other of his statements are deliberately inflammatory, such as his suggestion that we bomb Libyan civilians in the aftermath of September 11 ("Let them eat sand"). Weeks later O’Reilly denied the sentiment, though he has publicly stated that "If you’re not providing controversy and excitement, people won’t listen or watch."

Following in the footsteps of FAIR’s hit book The Way Things Aren’t: Rush Limbaugh’s Reign of Error, The Oh Really? Factor will use facts, humor, illustrations, and comics to challenge the many absurd, outlandish, and just plain incorrect statements made on one of the U.S.’s most-watched "news" programs. Publication timed to coincide with O’Reilly’s forthcoming book, Who’s Looking Out For You.

Peter Hart is the activism director at FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting), the national media watch group. He is also a co-host and producer of FAIR’s syndicated weekly radio show CounterSpin.