FNC’s Megyn Kelly Loves Arguing With Bill O’Reilly, Watches Morning Joe

Mediaite: The Daily Show criticized you recently in a very lengthy segment, not necessarily for having an opinion but for the topics, the tone. Do you think that was a fair criticism?

Kelly: I have to tell you I enjoy Jon Stewart. That’s the truth. I actually think he’s very funny. I’ve paid to see him do his stand-up routine. So when he turned his attention to me I was flattered. For me, it’s a big deal to be 10 minutes on the Jon Stewart show. I think it was actually two nights. And as an aside, it helped my ratings both times, so the truth is, I was flattered.

“I have respect for my fellow journalists at the other networks and I wish them all well. This is a tough business, so good for them.”

Mediaite: I tuned in the next day. I wanted to break it down, see if he was selective editing. This is the impression I got – you’re sort of a neo-anchor. Obviously the style is far from the mold of the O’Reilly and Hannity’s but there is this passion you could see, that could fit into a prime time role down the road. How would you describe your style?

Kelly: You know I’ve been asked that before and I don’t really have an answer for it. I’d like to say I’m tough, that I don’t give either side a pass. But we give attention to both sides and in the end, have the viewers decide.

Mediaite: Let’s talk about Kelly’s Court. How is it bringing in your law background to your TV show?

Kelly: I enjoy that because it makes me feel like I’m making some use of my law degree which I paid a lot of money for and worked really hard to achieve. And I did enjoy practicing law for probably the first five or six years of the nine that I practiced. But it is a challenge to condense legal material in a way that’s TV friendly, in a way that can be digested quickly and without having to reread a brief by audiences that are probably doing three other things as they watch. That’s a skill you develop over time. I think I’m probably better at it then I was when I first started. I like it and I enjoy hearing other lawyers do it, sparring with them on the given topic of the day, even lawyers who aren’t really lawyers, like Bill O’Reilly.

Mediaite: Do you ever watch the rest of cable news? What do you think of the cable news competition?

Kelly: I don’t. I confess that like a lot of our viewers I keep Fox on pretty much 24/7. But I’ve sampled obviously. In the mornings I watch some Morning Joe, I watch Fox & Friends that’s about it in the mornings. I don’t subscribe to that ‘if they’re over at MSNBC they must be an enemy to us because that’s what others say and if they’re over at CNN…’ I don’t understand why people go there. I have respect for my fellow journalists at the other networks and I wish them all well. This is a tough business, so good for them.

Mediaite: You also recently began using Twitter a lot more to engage with viewers. What do you think of the medium and how it helps with your TV show?

Kelly: I’m the worst tweeter ever. I don’t know what I’m doing. I really don’t. I thought it would be a good way to interact with the viewers because they can tweet back. I still don’t know if I’m using the proper terminology. But it’s nice and pithy, so you can read a lot of viewers comments in a short amount of time. And I do like it as a means of asking for viewer feedback and letting them know what’s going to be on the show and also asking for ideas.

Mediaite: What do you think will be a big story that may not be big right now but you see in the next couple months could be a big story that will be covered a lot?

Kelly: I think Afghanistan is going to get big. Given the offensive our troops are on over there and that they’ll be pursuing, especially come in June, the nation’s attention is going to turn there in a way it has not recently and I think that’s a good thing because that’s a conflict that needs coverage, and our men and women on the ground are about to make a big push that could be very important. That’s one, and obviously the 2010 midterms are going to be huge. Probably not for the next couple of months but probably mid to late summer. People are very fired up politically right now, both sides of the aisle, and they’re donating like we haven’t seen in a while, and interest is at a level we haven’t seen in a while so I think people are going to be more interested in midterm elections, congressional elections which normally aren’t the headliners in ways we have not seen in recent history.

(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)