David Kline of the entertaining BlogRevolt.com appeared on The O’Reilly Factor and, a la Mark Cuban, provides a blow-by-blow of his interactions with show producers. He says producers told him that O’Reilly wanted to ask him about the influence of political blogs — “what makes some of them credible and influential and others not, and how they were changing the political process.”
When Kline went on the show, he learned that O’Reilly was mostly interested in trashing a particular site, Media Matters, rather than the purported topic of the segment. Kline knew little about Media Matters; he managed to make a couple of intelligent comments but was basically rolled over. (Read the transcript.)
Nonetheless, when he got home he was greeted by this voicemail from an O’Reilly producer:
We just wanted to thank you for appearing on the show. I realize the segment didn’t turn out exactly the way we had discussed, but we think you did a great job. And Bill was very pleased.
David is ticked off that he got the bait and switch — which he obviously did. But frankly, he should have known better.
For those who haven’t appeared on TV talk shows or represented those who have, here’s some background. You’re typically contacted by a producer, who tells you what the segment is about and what kinds of questions you might be asked. You generally don’t interact with the host until your segment begins.
I’ve done TV interviews and have worked with producers to line up dozens more for the CEOs I’ve worked with. In my experiences with local producers as well as CNN, ABC, CNBC, FOX, PBS, Bloomberg TV and others, I can honestly say that I have never been misled.
It’s generally in a producer’s interest to be straightforward. After all, if you got the bait and switch, you’d look confused and flustered, and would not be able to answer questions articulately. The producer would look like he or she had booked a bad guest.
Of course, for a show like The O’Reilly Factor, the rules are different. O’Reilly likes an unlevel playing field because he wants to make his opponents look like blithering idiots. It’s amazing how he is able to book guests night after night to fall into the trap. It obviously requires very persuasive producers.
So, David, I’m sorry but you should have known better. And if Sean Hannity’s producer calls tomorrow, hang up.
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