Fighting the Culture War in the Print Media

There's no question, the committed left wing media hates FOX News — along with me and some other commentators here — because we provide a balance to the overwhelming secular presence in the media.

Now every poll of journalists says the same thing. Secular media people outnumber traditional media people by a huge margin. And some left wing media companies aggressively push their agenda in their news pages.

That is not acceptable, because the press in America is afforded special constitutional privileges. Thus, we have an obligation to be fair and balanced.

For a number of years, some media people have been using personal attacks and smears to try to marginalize people with whom they disagree. They do this because they can't win the debate. So they try to demean and demoralize their opposition.

Well, that's no longer tolerable. And “The Factor's" now going to launch a campaign to hold these smear merchants accountable. You may remember a few weeks ago, “The Factor” investigated Ohio Judge John Connor, who sentenced a child rapist to probation, no prison time whatsoever.

The attorney general and governor of Ohio supported the evidence we presented that Connor is unfit to serve. Well, the Dayton Daily News didn't like that. And smeared the three of us. Thousands of you called that newspaper to complain. And it was badly damaged.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Syracuse, New York to give a speech in support of the Boy Scouts, who had been thrown off the campus of Syracuse University after the ACLU complained.

For my trouble, I was smeared twice by the Syracuse Post-Standard. The villains at that paper are publisher Stephen Rogers and editorial writer Mark Libbon. These men are not only unprofessional, they are incompetent.

Over the past few years, The Post-Standard's circulation has declined nearly 30 percent. It is a disgraceful newspaper, nicknamed "Sub-Standard" by some in upstate New York.

Now we posted contact numbers for Rogers and Libbon on billoreilly.com, should you want to speak with them.

And that is what we'll continue to do. Any media person who uses smear tactics in any way — not just on me, but any way — will be featured on “The Factor” and inducted into the billoreilly.com "Hall of Shame."

We will keep a running list of media smear merchants on the Web site, in addition to our "Don't Buy, Don't Advertise" list.

As you know, we debate issues all day long on this program. I have no objection to any media criticizing my stand on any matters of the day. But beginning today, the smear stops here.

You guys want to do that? We'll let everybody know about it. That's called accountability.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Update on two thugs who endangered the public and authorities by leading the cops on a wild car chase this last month. In Los Angeles, 23-year-old Felix Stegelbauer is still in jail. His bond is a half million dollars. He is facing a variety of charges. He has done the car chase thing before and will be in court next week.

In Broward County, Florida, 23-year-old Jason Cortez pleaded not guilty today to a variety of charges. Cortez is also still in jail, but he's in real trouble as Florida authorities may designate him a habitual offender. That could mean up to 30 years in state prison for this guy, no wonder he's pleading not guilty.

We will continue to track these two as a warning to other criminals who put us all in danger on the road which, of course, is ridiculous.

—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. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com