STUDY: Bill OâReilly Uses Derogatory Names âMore Than Once Every Seven Secondsâ
A new study by Indiana University media researchers finds that Fox News host Bill OâReilly calls âa person or a group a derogatory name once every 6.8 seconds, on average, or nearly nine times every minute during the editorials that open his program each night.â
The study documented six months worth, or 115 episodes, of OâReillyâs âTalking Points Memoâ editorials âusing propaganda analysis techniques made popular after World War I.â Researchers found that OâReilly âwas prone to inject fear into his commentaries and quick to resort to name-calling. He also frequently assigned roles or attributes â such as âvilliansâ or downright âevilâ â to people and groups.
Some findings from the study:
â Fear was used in more than half (52.4 percent) of the commentaries, and OâReilly almost never offered a resolution to the threat. For example, in a commentary on âleft-wingâ media unfairly criticizing Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales for his role in the Abu Ghraib scandal, OâReilly considered this an example of America âslowly losing freedom and core values,â and added, âSo what can be done? Unfortunately, not much.â
â The researchers identified 22 groups of people that OâReilly referenced in his commentaries, and while all 22 were described by OâReilly as bad at some point, the people and groups most frequently labeled bad were the political left â Americans as a group and the media (except those media considered by OâReilly to be on the right).
â Left-leaning media (21.6 percent) made up the largest portion of bad people/groups, and media without a clear political leaning was the second largest (12.2 percent). When it came to evil people and groups, illegal aliens (26.8 percent) and terrorists (21.4 percent) were the largest groups.
The techniques used by Indiana University researchers to study OâReilly were also âused during the late 1930s to study another prominent voice in a war-era, Father Charles Coughlin. His sermons evolved into a darker message of anti-Semitism and fascism, and he became a defender of Hitler and Mussolini.â The researchers note, âOâReilly is a heavier and less-nuanced user of the propaganda devices than Coughlin.â
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/02/oreilly-derogatory/
A new study by Indiana University media researchers finds that Fox News host Bill OâReilly calls âa person or a group a derogatory name once every 6.8 seconds, on average, or nearly nine times every minute during the editorials that open his program each night.â
The study documented six months worth, or 115 episodes, of OâReillyâs âTalking Points Memoâ editorials âusing propaganda analysis techniques made popular after World War I.â Researchers found that OâReilly âwas prone to inject fear into his commentaries and quick to resort to name-calling. He also frequently assigned roles or attributes â such as âvilliansâ or downright âevilâ â to people and groups.
Some findings from the study:
â Fear was used in more than half (52.4 percent) of the commentaries, and OâReilly almost never offered a resolution to the threat. For example, in a commentary on âleft-wingâ media unfairly criticizing Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales for his role in the Abu Ghraib scandal, OâReilly considered this an example of America âslowly losing freedom and core values,â and added, âSo what can be done? Unfortunately, not much.â
â The researchers identified 22 groups of people that OâReilly referenced in his commentaries, and while all 22 were described by OâReilly as bad at some point, the people and groups most frequently labeled bad were the political left â Americans as a group and the media (except those media considered by OâReilly to be on the right).
â Left-leaning media (21.6 percent) made up the largest portion of bad people/groups, and media without a clear political leaning was the second largest (12.2 percent). When it came to evil people and groups, illegal aliens (26.8 percent) and terrorists (21.4 percent) were the largest groups.
The techniques used by Indiana University researchers to study OâReilly were also âused during the late 1930s to study another prominent voice in a war-era, Father Charles Coughlin. His sermons evolved into a darker message of anti-Semitism and fascism, and he became a defender of Hitler and Mussolini.â The researchers note, âOâReilly is a heavier and less-nuanced user of the propaganda devices than Coughlin.â
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/02/oreilly-derogatory/
