The Washington Post‘s Howard Kurtz turns in a profile of Glenn Beck today (3/15/10)that includes a few interesting anecdotes.He reports that “Fox staffers note that veteran producer Gresham Striegel left the network after clashing with Beck and say the host has surrounded himself with loyalists” from his own radio company, and that “a vice president was assigned ‘to help keep an eye on that program’ and review its content in advance–a full-time job.”
Kurtz also notes that some Fox reporters aren’t crazy about what his new fame is doing to them:
Beck has become a constant topic of conversation among Fox journalists, some of whom say they believe he uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric that undermines their credibility.
Yes, Beck is somehow undermining Fox‘s credibility in a way that that Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Geraldo Rivera and Brit Hume hadn’t managed to do yet.
Fox has always been conservative– it was founded on an explicitly political agenda, after all–albeit one that Fox anchors and personalities would occasionally try to argue was merely a myth cooked up by the liberal media.
So what these Fox reportersare really saying is that Beck’s presence on Fox makes it more difficult to fool people.
Fox should just do us all a favor and get rid of Glenn Beck. Better yet, Fox should just start telling the truth; but that would be too easy.
Fox News, and Alles, Murdock, should travel to a foreign country and open shop there.
The rhetoric and LIES, spewed by the likes of Beck, Hannity, Dick Morris, Michelle Malkin, Bill O’LIEly and the early birds as well, is appauling.
They have NEVER TOLD THE TRUTH.
Only lonely sheep, those unofficially declared brain dead, and the ignorant, would believe 1/2 of what is told there.
IT GETS WORSE EVERY DAY.
the hope lies with other journalists beginning to tell the truth. fox is not very likely to ever do so. even on charlie rose right wing lies go unchallenged.
While I agree wholeheartedly with most of the above comments, it is not just the Right Wing journalists who spout these pernicious views. News journalism has become a 24/7 entertainment vehicle with almost a complete lack of investigation into the background behind the stories. Even PBS has succumbed with their cancellation of Bill Moyers.
Perhaps it is time for a group such as this to issue a report card, say every 3 months documenting the truthfulness of each syndicate or organization and then publishing that in the major newspapers
When has Fox ever been credible? Yes, ALL commercial journalism must be viewed with 1) in whose interest? and 2) who writes the paycheck? Fox’s conservative slant goes so far beyond nuance that it lost credibility factor from the beginning.
It’s a pity Rupert can’t control all of the media, then we’d still have Republicans in charge.
Just think, we could be in Iran now rather than wasting our soldiers in Afghanistan.
And of course we could never be in a Depression if Rupert were in charge, nor would we worry about Climate Warming, nor would anyone consider socializing medicine.
When Rupert controls the media everything will be better, right?
Republicans can only come back into power pushing trust-busting down Rupert’s throat.
Sensational lies and blatant misrepresentation of the their version of the truth makes for much better ratings, especially for all the brain dead wingnuts that thrive off of it.
I so agree with the above Dennis P. Finn .An effort for real investigation of all the politicians and their corporate handlers would be the best service that could be provided to this country. Allowing the populace a chance to make decisions based on truth is much needed and long overdue.
If Beck is indeed having a negative impact on his Fox colleagues’ credibility I say “Right-on Glenn, keep up the good work!”.
Jon Stuart did a terrific parody on Beck last night (3/18/2010).
I too agree with Dennis P. Finn but I wonder if such a monitoring system were implemented where would it be aired? The mainstream media would feel compelled to offer an “alternative opinion” which would amount to more right-wing gibberish. But it is definately worth a shot. We must never stop trying.
Until people stop watching it and ratings go down, they will keep giving viewers what they want to watch: Faux news that validates their ignorance. Advertisers love it.
IT IS A GREAT LAUGH TO SEE ALL OF THE LIBERAL NUTS HAVING AN AGREEMENT ON ONE BLOG.
AS AN INDEPENDENT, I HAVE LISTENED TO ALL FOX SHOWS, AND THREE OF MSNBC, AND ONE CNN.
EVERYONE CLAIMS TO BE HOLIER THAN THOU, AND I FIND IT HIGHLY AMUSING.
I STARTED OUT AS A DEMO, THEN WENT REPUB, NOW AM HAPPY WHERE I AM AT.
AN INDEPENDENT CONSTITUTIONALIST.
CONSERVATIVE OR LIBERAL, WE INDEPENDENTS SIT BACK AND ENJOY EACH SIDE OF THE REDICULOUS
MUD SLINGING BACK AND FORTH……
I AM DEFINITELY NOT AT ALL HAPPY WITH ANYONE WHO WONT EVEN SHOW HIS BIRTH CERTIF, TO PROVE TO ALL OF THE BIRTHERS THAT HE IS LEGAL. ONE MUST REALLY WONDER WHY ? WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ?
MAYBE THEY REALLY DO HAVE A LEGIT RIGHT TO HAVE THE CONSTITUTION FOLLOWED…..PROOF !!!
Wow….you all sound very bitter! Sorry you can’t take the thought of some competition. Until Fox News, the media was controlled by a tidal wave of liberalism. It astounds me that the left wing is in constant denial of this. Fox is the number 1 rated news channel now and liberals will feel the need to let out their frustration and bash their credibility. So, if you would like to discuss problems with credibility in journalism, lets talk about Dan Rather, or even better… Jayson Blair! But Fox probably made up all that stuff about nonexistent sources and phony documents just to be hateful!
Some good advice, don’t watch if it bothers you that much. If you see Fox news in the title of an article, don’t read it. Here’s a better thought, review the constitution instead and….keep your nose out of my health care.
Have a great day!!
For BigJer, USING ALL CAPS MEANS YOU ARE SCREAMING YOUR MESSAGE. Doing that is contrary to being a super cool independent person. Maybe you haven’t gotten all the republican crap out of your head yet. We who are liberal democrats appreciate your leaving our party. I’m sure that the republicans are happy that you found that party too complex to play in, now the only party to suffer is the independents, bless ’em.
Fox is necessary so that we will know the lowest level of publication. Without them we just wouldn’t know how bad and full of lies our Constitution allows for free speech. Let’s try to use them as the measure for bad and get as many laughs out of them as we can. They at least provide fodder for John Stewart and many other comedians. Glen Beck is our measure of how bad Fox can get so we have some real indices provided by Roger Ailes and crew. Thanks for the laughs, Fox.
Fox and company goals are very clear – product More Timothy McVeigh antigovernment right-wing extremists to attack the President and his administration. I sadly watched the Bush administration slowly destroy the active military force (mainly the Army) and the reserve components. I supported Secretary Gates to retain his job under the Obama administration because during his short tenure under Bush, he demonstrated that he was going to “clean up” the mess and cronyism created by Rumsfeld and return creditability to the Defense Department (Pentagon). Currently his major problem IS NOT “don’t ask – don’t tell” but the right-wing extremists that was allowed to enter the military when standards were lowed by the Bush administration. While we see the “patriot” groups and “militias’ being fueled by fox news, tea party, talk-radio hosts, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rep Bachmann, and others with their antigovernment conspiracies outside the military, the “oath keepers” group is recruiting men and women in the military to resist the Obama administration. Have republican elected members and military personnel been exempted from Treason? Is republican lying talk-radio machines Treason? Is/will congress, Justice department, FBI, DHS, Southern Poverty Law Center monitor and investigate these groups and their activities? The conservative political action conference (CPAC) held last month clearly reflects that the GOP has a very small tent. Fox and their reporters lost their creditability with the average citizen of this country a long time ago. They see no harm in helping to destroy the president and this country.
Again with the liberal media myth. Look, whatever the media conditions were before Fox came along, the fact is that today there is no liberal bias in the mainstream media. Republicans understand how to frame the narrative and get it accepted as common wisdom far more often than you think. You got what you wanted, but it won’t be enough until everyone is parroting Fox. And that will never happen, because as we’ve seen Fox will stay one step ahead in the race to the right. Their most popular entertainer is calling the opposition a “cancer” while Reagan was far too moderate to have any chance in today’s GOP primaries despite being celebrated as a model for the party. These things should really be a wake up call to the extremism that is building.
Fox journalists? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
They got no credibility so they got nothin’ to worry about! Credibility schmedibility!
Ditto-heads and tea-baggers don’t realize they’re constantly being lied to and manipulated by a steady drumbeat of propaganda and disinformation spewed from their heroes Limbaugh and Fox News because, at this point, they’ve been successfully brainwashed. They’re too lazy-minded and ignorant to realize when they’re being lied to by their “leaders” because they ‘want’ to believe and they’re unable to discern the truth anymore and too dishonest to care. It’s become truly Cult-like. In fact, to be a right-wing Republican for the last decade or more are the negative traits of willful ignorance, intellectual dishonesty and an authoritarian willingness to follow their leaders over cliffs like lemmings. And that’s all the Republican Party has; lies combined with an ongoing anti-intellectual crusade. Like Glenn Beck says, “I didn’t get my education in a ‘public school’, I went to the library where the books are FREE!”
As long as they’re willing to be whipped up into an anti-intellectual, emotional frenzy and fake “outrage” against anything that can be labeled “librul”, they’ll continue to be used as unwitting tools and stooges by their corporate leaders at Fox and propagandists on AM radio and will continue to act as traitors to America. These dimbulbs should just accept the fact that reality has a liberal bias and get over it. Or in other words; “Get a brain, Morans”.
I think that all mass media in this country are right of center and I think that it is done consciously. The only reason that FOX News exists is to set the standard of conservativbe bias to the extreme. That way the other news outlets can be less extreme but still be biased to the right. Let’s face it. The major media are huge corporate behemoths and a right wing electorate favors their interests.
I’m not sure just how much crazier the rantings of Beck will get before Fox kicks him off, but it’s fun to watch and take odds. He’s sure doing his best to keep them “Fair and Balanced”
what we are witnessing in our country is “THE END OF LOGIC”… I truly fear for the lives of ,especially, all the children of our planet, because they, most of all, will be paying the price for the ignorance & prejudice of their parents.
FOX is to news as ducks take to the Sahara!
FOX reporters? You’ve got be kidding!
All hail Keith Olbermann! If you are not getting your information from him, then you are being lied to.
As long as there are people who tell the truth about Fox News, then Fox News does not need to tell the truth.