We knew — we knew — the moment we announced the O'Reilly-Colbert exchange program, the far-left fanatics in the press would slam us. That's just who they are: Dishonest people who despise the FOX News Channel and do everything they can to hurt this enterprise.
Newspapers like the St. Petersburg Times, The San Jose Mercury News, The Toronto Star, The Canadian National Post, all took their usual cheap shots. So did Newsday, who's TV critic Verne Gay wrote this:
"[Bill O'Reilly] has no sense of humor. Never has. Never will. Doubtless, O'Reilly will blame this assessment on the ranting of just another 'left-wing critic.'"
Bingo, Verne! You're an oracle. You are also an ideologue masquerading as a journalist, a man with a plan, writing for a newspaper that is collapsing economically because of its extreme far-left bias.
Now, not all the coverage was dishonest. Jake Coyle at the Associated Press and Peter Johnson at USA Today wrote fair pieces. And I'm sure there were others as well.
But generally speaking, the media will attack FOX News at every opportunity. Elements at NBC News, for example, do this every day. Somewhere Chet Huntley is weeping.
The media battle between FOX News and the far-left outlets is fascinating to watch from the inside. Every day, I see clips and transcripts from all over the country: 80 percent of the print articles on FNC are negative — 80 percent.
Ideology is the reason. FOX News is far and away the No. 1 rated cable network with 14 out of the top 15 programs. Our journalists are top notch. Our presentation crisp and accurate.
But because we give equal weight to the conservative and traditional point of view, the committed left media hates us.
Which brings us back to the O'Reilly-Colbert exchange program. We received thousands of letters on it. 90 percent of the correspondents enjoy the interaction. We'll read some of their comments at the end of "The Factor."
And few of the letters were written to injure. They were just honest opinion without malice — something the American media has long since forgot.
And that's the Memo.
Most Ridiculous Item
Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival is under way but instead of talking movies, the actor chose to say this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: And so I think anybody with a rational mind with a sense of decency is being positioned as a lefty by the behavior of the extreme right. They have kind of pushed it. But I just believe in the fundamental tenets of democracy and when they get pushed, shoved, compromised or attempted to be snubbed, it pisses me off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Ridiculous? I think I would rather see a movie.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox