Fox News Channel conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly discussed the rise of opinion journalism and its effects on society and democracy during The Kalb Report Saturday at the National Press Club.

O’Reilly, who is famous for having vigorous debates on his show with guests from every political and philosophical group, said his style of journalism on “The O’Reilly Factor” has been a moneymaker.

“I’m expected to deliver enormous ratings and my program makes an enormous amount of money,” O’Reilly said. “That changes everything. It makes it harder to basically do straight news and straight reporting. I have to deliver ratings and I got to deliver money.”

Although host Marvin Kalb said O’Reilly is “a major player in cable news” and “must be heard and understood,” he reminded O’Reilly that “this is the Kalb factor and you are in my ‘no spin zone.’ “

True to form, O’Reilly named names when talking with Kalb about “very bad guys” like Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, who “doesn’t level with folks.”

When talking about the liberalization of many news sources, O’Reilly called MSNBC the “Obama Network” and said Fox News Channel was not right-wing.

“Fox News coverage is down the line,” O’Reilly said. “The hard news people – not the commentators – they report the news the same way they report it on CNN.”

O’Reilly, who once had Kalb as a professor, was not afraid to challenge the journalist, noting the A- he received in Kalb’s class should have been an A, but that Kalb added the minus “out of spite.” When Kalb labeled O’Reilly a conservative, O’Reilly fired back that he is a “traditionalist.”

The audience, which was composed mostly of GW students and alumni, interacted with the host and guest, often laughing when one of them made a particularly deep jab.

“It was really cool,” sophomore Andrea Bradley said. “I very much enjoyed hearing the dichotomy between the more traditionalist leaning and the more liberal leaning.”

Kay Krohne, who graduated in 1968, attended the event as part of Alumni Weekend.

“It was worth coming all the way from San Diego to D.C. just to see that,” Krohne said.

The Kalb Report partnered with GW, Harvard University and the National Press Club, is in its 15th season. This event was the 61st edition of the show, which focuses on the press and its relationship with politics, ethics and public policy.