One of Fairfield University’s own was once again featured on the popular Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor” on March 19. Dr. David McFadden, the Chair of the history department, was one of O’Reilly’s guests.
“The faculty received an open call for anyone willing to talk about the impending war about two weeks ago. I told our public relations department that I was willing to talk about the history of American public protesting during war,” said McFadden.
“I received a call from the producer of No Spin Factor on FOX radio, which is also hosted by O’Reilly, and he asked if I was willing to come on the show,” McFadden added. “I agreed.”
McFadden was given a slot on the radio show. He and O’Reilly discussed public protesting for ten minutes.
After the show, O’Reilly offered him a slot on “The O’Reilly Factor” that evening. McFadden took the opportunity and appeared for only 3 minutes.
“The radio show was more enjoyable. We had time to have a substantial conversation. We were able to debate, while on TV, we didn’t have the time to do that,” McFadden said.
O’Reilly and McFadden disagreed strongly during their discussions. McFadden supports public protests while O’Reilly strongly denounces them. As a member of the famous Mayday protest in Washington DC against Vietnam in 1971, McFadden believes they are an integral part of our freedoms.
“According to the government, we are fighting for freedom. We are guaranteed freedom of speech so protests are important. Every war, from the Revolution to the present war in Iraq, people have disagreed with them, including World War II. If people are doing it to voice their opinion against a war and willing to take the consequences for their actions, protests need to be allowed. This country has the potential to be the greatest country because of our freedoms,” said McFadden.
On air, O’Reilly attacked McFadden fiercely, but even so, McFadden respects O’Reilly.
“I disagree with him on most things but I have to say that he is very smart and stays on top of the issues. He’s a very intelligent man.”
McFadden was flattered and grateful that he was able to appear on “The O’Reilly Factor” and “The No Spin Factor.” He received a lot of feedback about his appearance as well.
“I received lots of email, a few negative, but mainly they were positive. Past students, other Fairfield alumni and other professors applauded my appearance,” said McFadden.
“I believe that every professor at Fairfield should take opportunities to appear on television. We have a wonderful faculty and a good school. Publicity is good and by being seen on national television, we can bring attention to Fairfield. 9.7 million people watched the show that evening and hopefully some will remember Fairfield’s name. I’d love to appear again as I hope other faculty will.”
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